Soul Struck
by jlluh
Summary: Rukia figures out a way to get her powers back before being discovered by Soul Society. Lemon at the start, but not a lemon-filled or lemon-focused story.
1. Chapter 1: Lemon

Rukia was fearful.

Using Ichigo to accomplish her duties while she recovered was working out. They'd purified quite a few Hollows and Konsoed quite a few pluses, and they'd had those unusual experiences with Orihime's Hollow brother and Chad's possessed parakeet. Overall, the job was getting done.

But Rukia couldn't take satisfaction in that. Her reiatsu wasn't recovering nearly as quickly as she'd thought it would. In point of fact, it felt as if it were decreasing, which was impossible, and so clearly just her imagination, but still. There couldn't be any doubt that the recovery was taking too long. If she didn't report back soon, the Onmitsukido would send someone to check on her.

She needed to do something. She needed to do whatever was necessary to get her powers back.

She sat cross-legged on Ichigo's bed and motioned for him to do the same.

"What the hell?" Ichigo said.

"I want my powers back. I'm tired of waiting. So we're gonna work on reiatsu control so maybe you can push my powers back into me."

Ichigo said, "If we can do that, why I don't I just stick my sword in you like you did me?"

"Hey, do you think that's easy? It takes a lot of skill." Having reached Shikai was a necessity. You had to be able to communicate with your zanpakutou. "And there were still even odds you would die. We only did it because we would've died for sure if we hadn't." And considering how greedily he'd gulped her powers up, trying to get them to re-enter her that way might be like getting water to flow up hill.

Ichigo sat cross-legged on the bed in front of her. "Instruct me, oh great mistress."

Rukia said, "First, close your eyes and slow your breathing. Direct your attention to your shoulders. You should be able to feel something like a very soft breeze along them."

#

#

When she'd mentioned wanting to leave her gigai for some exercises, Urahara had offered her a free Chappy as repayment for the Kon incident, saying the gigai would perform better if it had a soul in it constantly.

So Ichigo was in shinigami form, and was Rukia in soul form, still horribly weak and dressed in white robes rather than a shihakusho, Chappy taking care of her gigai. A chair had been leaned under the door knob to keep Karin from coming in and seeing four of them, and Rukia and Ichigo were sitting on his bed once more, holding hands as Ichigo tried to push her reiatsu into her.

"My reiatsu, you idiot."

"I'm trying, midget. This isn't easy. Yours is all mixed up with mine."

"Try again."

Ichigo closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, gathering reiatsu around him.

Ichigo said, "I keep hearing whispering when I'm really focused. What is that?"

"Whispering? What does it say?"

"Can't make it out. It's all garbled."

Garbled whispering when he was focused, when he was meditating. Was it possible he was hearing Sode no Shirayuki? Her zanpakutou. What if he heard her properly? What if he learned her name and said it, achieving shikai? What would that mean? When she recovered, would they both have _a_ Sode no Shirayuki? Would they have to share _the_ Sode no Shirayuki? Or would she never be able to regain Sode no Shirayuki at all?

Rukia said, "We need to try something else." They'd been working on it for days, and while Ichigo had improved greatly at controlling his reiatsu, she didn't think they'd made any progress at restoring hers. "There's something we could do that would lower the wall between us. Our reiatsu would mingle naturally, and I think I could pull mine back into myself, so long as you were pushing, and you would be pushing. Instinctively, even."

Ichigo said, "Let's try that then. Is it dangerous?"

Looking away, she said, "Not dangerous, exactly. Ichigo, when do the barriers between a man and a woman naturally reach their lowest?"

"What, no, you're not, you're joking!"

Looking at her feet, Rukia said, "I wish I were joking. But it's true. It's very spiritual."

"Just to be clear, we're talking about..."

"Sex, yes."

"Like hell I will."

Rukia said, "So now you want to keep fighting Hollows?"

Ichigo said, "Rather fight Hollows than have sex with you. Didn't you say you're like a hundred and fifty years old? That's statutory rape, is what that is."

"My body is at about the same stage as yours, and that matters just as much. It's not, it wouldn't be- hey, what's wrong with you, it's not like I want to do it! I saved your life."

"If you'd just killed that Hollow, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

Rukia said, "If you hadn't kept distracting me, and hadn't run at the Hollow, I would've killed it. It was way below my level!"

"Fuck," said Ichigo. "Can't we just wait a little longer for you to get your powers back?"

Rukia said, "It's taking longer than I thought it would, and eventually someone will be by to investigate why I haven't checked in. I'm kind of surprised it hasn't happened already." Maybe they were willing to give _Kuchiki_ Rukia a little longer rope.

"Yeah, so?"

Not wanting to admit it, but seeing no choice, Rukia said, "Giving my powers to a human isn't quite legal, actually."

"You'd get in trouble?" said Ichigo. "But if you hadn't done it, we all would've died."

"I know that, you know that, even they might know that, but a Substitute Shinigami can cause a lot of big problems. Just because everyone was making irresponsible decisions for nice reasons doesn't mean no one will die. Technically, I could be executed."

Ichigo blanched. "What the hell is wrong with those people?"

"They'd never actually do that!" Rukia assured him. "That's a really old law that's never been taken off the books. I'd probably just be imprisoned for a few decades. Maybe even just house-arrest." Since she was a Kuchiki. She hoped Central 46 was in the mode to go soft on Nobles rather than making examples of them. It seemed to go in cycles.

"That's still bullshit," said Ichigo.

"And it wouldn't be good for you either. If we were found out, Division 12 might want to experiment on you."

"Experiment on me? Just what kind of place is Soul Society really?"

"It's a good place!" she assured him. "It's just that the Captain of Division 12 is a total bastard, but he's the only one qualified to Head Research and Development, so he gets away with a lot. The Captain Commander makes sure he doesn't go too far overboard."

"Experimenting on people isn't going too far overboard?"

Rubbing her head, Rukia said, "Experimenting on criminals. Technically, you'd be a criminal."

Taking a deep breath, Ichigo said, "So you're saying if we don't have sex, you won't be able to hide that you gave me your powers, and if they find out, you'll be imprisoned and I'll be an experimental subject?"

"Um, maybe? And even if we did it, it might not work."

Ichigo screamed into his pillow, threw it across the room, and said, "I'm going for a walk." He leaped out his window, running on air with surprising ease, disappearing into the evening.

Rukia put the pillow back, adjusted it so it was perfectly square to the mattress, and wrapped her arms around her knees, wondering if she should get back into her gigai. She shouldn't have said all that. She couldn't believe she actually had. She should just wait, like a normal person.

Kon said, "Nee-san, you can have sex with m-"

She kicked him.

What the hell was wrong with Ichigo, saying he'd rather fight Hollows than have sex with her? Sure, she'd rather fight Hollows than have sex with him, but it wasn't like she was ugly. He should be happy to have do it with an older woman. She was the one getting the short end of the stick.

Rukia dropped her head on her knees and said, "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid Rukia. Stupid."

She'd been sitting motionless for most an hour when a breeze blew through the window, and Rukia saw Ichigo's sandaled foot.

He hopped off the bed, awkwardly unstrapped his zanpakutou, leaned it against his desk, and said, "So, if we gotta, we oughta."

"You're agreeing?" She didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

Avoiding her gaze, Ichigo said, "It's not that big a thing, right? If some asshole experimented on me until I glowed blue and grew horns and I could've avoided it by doing that with you, I'd feel like the stupidest idiot in the world."

"Exactly," said Rukia.

"So, how do we do this sex thing?"

"You've never done it before?"

"I'm 15!" he said, putting his thumb at his chest and turning red in a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. "You'll have to tell me what to do."

Turning even redder, Rukia said, "I am familiar with the theory."

Ichigo stared, then fell over laughing. "Familiar with the theory. Hundred and fifty year-old virgin!"

"Hey, it's not that funny. Our desires are not so insistent as humans'." Though not lesser in intensity once activated. "And I was a little kid for the first fifty years."

"So it's only been a hundred years for you as an adult, huh?"

Rukia said, "Women of the Kuchiki family do not casually sleep around." Of course, there were thirty or so years before that when she'd been old enough, or nearly old enough, and she hadn't ever, but that was none of his business. "Stop laughing at me."

"I'm not laughing," he claimed, laughing harder and burying his face in his pillow.

Arms crossed, she waited for his laughter to subside.

When it had finally stopped, he sat up, guffawed once more, wiped tears of mirth from his eyes, and said, "So. Now?"

She glanced at the chair leaned under doorknob. In spirit form, they shouldn't be seen or heard in the first place, and the day offered extra protections. Isshin was still at work, Karin should still be playing soccer at the park. Music was coming up through the floor, which meant Yuzu had the TV turned to the music video channel, had the music on loud, and was dancing. There wouldn't be a better time.

Rukia said, "Kon, Chappy, in the closet."

Kon said, "I want to-"

"In the closet," Rukia said, voice low and dangerous.

The two mod souls went into the closet and closed the door. Rukia put the second chair under the doorknob, shut the window blinds, dropping the room into gloom, and said, "Ichigo, take off your clothing."

"No reason to instruct me, bitch. I'm _familiar with the theory_ too." But he didn't touch his clothing.

Feeling as embarrassed and exposed as she ever had, not quite able to believe this was actually happening, Rukia closed her eyes, put her hands to the collar of her robe, and said, "On the count of three. One, two three!"

Her 'three' was a squeak. A flutter of cloth, other sounds that were probably Ichigo getting his clothing off, which she ignored because she was getting her own clothing off.

When she was naked, sitting on Ichigo's bed next to a naked Ichigo, which was the worst thought that had ever gone through her head, she unclenched her eye lids, peeking out between her lashes.

Ichigo was naked, bright red and had a hand over his own eyes.

Rukia said, "You can look now."

Two fingers separated, and Ichigo peeked out between them, his eyes tracking down, looking much lower than her minimal breasts. Much lower. "So that's what it looks like," he said. "Not the prettiest thing ever."

"Yeah, well, yours isn't pretty either. And it's growing."

Ichigo slapped his other hand over his genitals.

"That's good," she said. "It means we can do this."

"Hey, what about pregnancy?"

Rukia said, "First, shinigami aren't very fertile. Second, I'm not in heat. And third, I know a Kido I can use after to make extra sure that doesn't happen."

Ichigo said, "Shinigami go through heat? Like dogs?"

"Be quiet and lay down."

He lay on his side, head on his pillow, and Rukia lay next to him, only a few inches of space separating them.

Ichigo said, "This is the most awkward moment of my life."

Looking down, Rukia said, "And apparently the most arousing. You'd better not go off before we even do anything."

He covered his genitals again.

Rukia said, "Maybe you don't realize this, but you can't have sex while covering your penis with your hands."

"Smartass. Fine. We'll get this over with." He moved closer, grabbed his, well, with one hand, maneuvered it into her, well, and jerked once.

Rukia pushed him away. "Hey, you're not understanding this. You can't just mechanically jack off into me. For our spiritual boundaries to lower, we have to actually both be into this. Intercourse isn't enough. We have to be intimate."

"What? I can't."

"Yes you can. You already have. You're a man. It's easier for you. You could be intimate with an appropriately lubed hole in a tree."

"Hey! Pervert!"

"As a woman, I need a little more work up." She had to be _attracted_ to Ichigo. That sounded impossible, but he was a good looking, athletic young man at about the same point in physical, matural age as her. And he did look a lot like Kaien-dono. She could pretend he was Kaien-dono. She'd done that often enough with her fingers when she was younger. "This has a better chance of working if we climax together. If we don't, we might have to try again until we get it right."

"What?!"

"So do it right."

"So, uh, what should I-"

She pointed to a spot. "This is my clit. Rub it gently."

Blushing almost purple, he touched it, and Rukia gasped. There was apparently a very large difference between touching it herself and someone else touching it.

Ichigo said, "You don't pee out of this, do you?"

She hit him. "No. That's the little hole an inch down."

Ichigo squinted and grimaced, moving his fingers a little higher, away from her urethral opening.

Hesitantly, she stroked his chest, and he shivered.

She stroked more confidently, reaching around him and gently kneading the muscles in his back. "How's that?"

"Feels good," said Ichigo, voice husky, and one of his fingers went in.

Rukia gasped again, her conclusion that she ought to pretend he was Kaien-dono already forgotten.

Ichigo said, "It's getting all slimy."

"It's not slimy. Why would you say slimy? It's getting wet, like it's supposed to."

"Slimy in a good way, I mean."

"Idiot."

"Should we k-kiss?"

"Probably." That seemed like a bigger step. Sex was, at bottom, for procreation. Kissing was for romance and pleasure. To kiss would step up the intimacy. Which was exactly why they should do it. She wriggled her way up the bed a little, putting her head almost level with his.

She pulled him close, angled her head just in time to make it more a brushing of noses than a bumping of them. They kissed, kissed, and kissed again.

Ichigo whispered in her ear. "I've heard a lot of guys kiss too wet or whatever, so tell me if I do that."

She whispered back, "I think you're supposed to part your lips when we kiss."

"Oh," he said, and they tried again, opening their mouths more. Ichigo ran his tongue along her gums, which was an odd feeling, but a good one.

Her heart was thudding, her breathing speeding up. Her grasped her by the waist, moved in, and thrust hard.

"Ow!" yelped Ichigo.

"What?"

"I missed," he said, wincing in pain. "Your abs are rock hard. It bent. That really hurt."

"Then put it in more carefully, you big baby."

"Just give me a moment."

"You're such a pansy."

"I am not a pansy.

They resumed, Ichigo got a guide hand down there, and his, well, ended up in her, well. Instead of pushing him away, Rukia locked her legs tight around him, moving in rhythm and turning so that instead of lying next to each other, he was on top of her. Thankfully, the intense exercise routine of a shinigami meant that it had been a long time since she'd had a hymen to break, and there was no pain, only pleasure, the fingers of one of his hands still working on her, his mouth tracing kisses on her neck, her breathing increasingly unsteady.

Ichigo said, "I can't hold it anymore."

Rukia said, "You'd better hold it, or I'll break your ankles and shove a pocky stick up your pee-hole and see how you like it."

Fear touching his eyes, Ichigo rapidly withdrew, lying next to her and breathing hard. "Just give me a minute to calm down."

"Yeah, well, rub my clit while you're calming down. I don't need to calm down. The opposite, actually." She was quite wet, and her reiatsu was starting to reach out to him, but all that needed to keep rising in intensity.

And his reiatsu, currently so much larger, was reaching out to hers, clenching, holding, joining.

"Feel that?" she said.

"Yeah. That's what we want, right? And then I push it into you?"

"Yeah. Not until we're more open to each other, though."

"Right. I can hear the whispering now too. It's clearer."

It was? Sode no Shirayuki... She wasn't losing her zanpakutou. "We'd better hurry." She reached for him, intending to guide his, well, into her.

Ichigo jerked.

"You came all over me!" Rukia shrieked.

Sounding a little pleased, he said, "You grabbed me. It's not my fault."

"Oh, so you could handle being in my vagina, but you couldn't handle my touching you?"

Ichigo said, "I told you to give me a minute!"

"Ugh. It's sticky. And I'm not getting this ick on my handkerchief."

"Did you go blind, bitch? There's a tissue box right here."

Rukia made for it, grabbing wads of tissue and wiping off her hand, wrist and abdomen, tossing the tissues on the floor when she was done.

"What happens to it?" Ichigo asked.

Rukia said, "The ick will shortly degrade into its component spirit particles and float away. The tissues will be clean, and you can use them to blow your human nose."

"Hell no."

Rukia said, "What's your recharge time?"

"What?"

"You're in a shinigami body now, so your stamina is heightened. You should recharge much more quickly than normal."

"You really wanna try it again?"

Rukia said, "I think we'll get it the second time."

"Okay," said Ichigo, the beginnings of a smile laying siege to his scowl.

"But it's not like being aroused by you is easy. If I come all the way down, we'll have to start from the beginning and our odds of success drop." Mechanically, she started massaging boobs.

"Oh hell," said Ichigo. "I'll try something that pervert Keigo talked about. If it's too weird, tell me and I'll stop."

He dropped down, looked at genitals from close range, made a face, and touched the tip of his red tongue to her clit.

Rukia yelped.

Ichigo's head popped up. "Did that hurt?"

"It was just surprising. I think you're on to something there. Try again."

Ichigo licked. Felt around with his tongue. Explored. Rukia gasped. Obviously he wasn't worrying about her peel hole anymore.

Rukia said, "Doesn't that taste disgusting?"

"Yeah, but not as much as you'd think," Ichigo murmured.

The world contracted. She could hardly see and hardly hear. All her attention was on the explosion of sensation down low, and the hands running over her body. Gasping and moaning, she did not think of who or why or situation, only of what, of a pleasure just to the side of agony, and she didn't know if it had started a minute or an hour ago.

It ended. Halted. Ichigo was moving up, intending to resume proper intercourse. A disappointment, when she had been the right on the edge of orgasm.

She didn't wait for him to get situated. She flipped him with a martial arts move, rolled on top of him, straddled him, put his dick inside.

Looking down at his tousled form, he was an attractive, kind, intelligent, trustworthy, ridiculously talented young man, and he was doing this because she'd told him to, and it should give her her powers back.

An incredibly arousing thought. She was gushing, and the idea that she wouldn't be able to climax along with him seemed impossible.

They rocked together.

"Rukia," he was gasping. "Rukia, Rukia, Rukia" not attracting her attention, just calling her name as he squeezed her breasts, and she realized distantly that she was calling his name. Their reiatsu was bound, intermingled, and he was pushing it into her instinctively as she pulled it in instinctively.

She tightened, they both jerked harder than before, and as they came together, he shouted a name that wasn't hers.

"Zangetsu!" he yelled, and power flowed into her.

:::

I've been wanting to give writing a sex scene a try, so here it is. The first sex-scene I've ever written. I think it would work as a comic one-shot. But in fact, there's a lot more story coming. But very little in the way of sex. This ain't the kinda story, ya know? It just starts out that way.

Have you read many comic sex scenes? I feel like sex scenes should be comic at least half the time, but the only comic sex scene I can think of is inside In The Footsteps of the Silver King, by Paul Kareem Tayyar.

Listening to Terrence Blanchard.

I'll resume my Harry Potter fics when I'm back in a Harry Potter mood.


	2. Chapter 2: Unexpected Consequences

**Ch 2: Unexpected Consequences**

"Zangetsu!" Ichigo yelled at the climax, and power flowed into Rukia.

Rukia's clothing on the floor changed into the black garb of a shinigami. Sode no Shirayuki was in her hands, in its shikai form, dangerously close to lopping Ichigo's ear off. Instead, she'd poked a hole in his pillow and frozen the pillow solid.

Ichigo should have lost most of his reiatsu, but instead he was surrounded in reiatsu, glowing blue with it, a supernova of reiatsu great enough to make a Vice-Captain proud.

Laid gently on the floor, his massive zanpakutou was getting even bigger, changing shape, turning into a huge, guardless, black and white triangular cleaver with a long white ribbon at the end.

Rukia herself was changing. She felt as if she were popping, like a scrunched plastic bottle being unscrunched.

Relaxed and happy manner, Ichigo said, "Hey, midget, you're not a midget anymore."

She leaped out of the bed and looked at herself in the mirror hanging on Ichigo's closet door, and gasped. She was taller. Nearly a foot! But her breasts were just the same as before, and she didn't look any older. Younger even. Like a gangling colt whose flesh hadn't caught up with her bones.

"What the hell?" Rukia said. She wanted to panic, wanted to scream, wanted to blame Ichigo for messing up somehow, but recent events had left her too mellow.

Beyond the afterglow, she held Sode no Shirayuki in her hands, and her own reiatsu felt as powerful as ever before. Like a strong 3rd seat verging on Vice-Captain level.

Unable to stop smiling, she covered her breasts and turned to Ichigo, who also looked strangely happy and relaxed, despite the odd events. His reiatsu had settled to a more normal level, though it was stronger than it had been just an hour ago.

Rukia said, "Who's Zangetsu?"

Using a blanket to protect his modesty (which was pretty strange, but she wanted a blanket too, and grabbed her clothing instead) he picked up the cleaver-like zanpakutou. "I think Zangetsu is this."

#

#

Fully dressed in shinigami garb, they sat on the edge of the bed with nearly two feet of space between them, carefully not looking at each other, holding their respective zanpakutou's.

Rukia said, "You're a human with strong spiritual powers. That's the same as saying you'll have the talent to be a shinigami when you die. Meaning you've always, in a way, had dormant shinigami powers buried deeply down. Very deeply." She was making that up. It contradicted what she'd learned in school, but it was the only plausible explanation. "Probably all spiritually sensitive humans do. By hosting my powers for a little while, those powers were awoken."

"Makes sense," said Ichigo. "Your powers are all good?"

"I spoke to Sode no Shirayuki. She seems fine."

"That was the meditation thing?"

"Jinzen, yes." Sode no Shirayuki had seemed fine, but a little weird. She'd had a single horn sticking off the left side of her head, and a languorous, contented smile.

Apparently, while she and Ichigo had been doing, well, Sode no Shirayuki had been, welling, with Zangetsu too, and Zangetsu looked just like Ichigo only white, like snow, Sode no Shirayuki had said.

She hadn't known zanpakutous did that kind of thing.

Rukia said, "You yelled your zanpakutou's name while climaxing."

"Don't put it like that."

"How else should I put it?"

Ichigo said, "At the climax, I successfully expelled your powers back into you."

"Kind of," Rukia said, "Your reiatsu is mixed in with mine." She put a hand to his head, trying hard not to remember how much they'd been touching just a little while ago. "And mine is mixed in with yours."

"Is that bad?"

Rukia said, "It will probably fade away with time." A baseless prediction. She had given him her powers, and he had kept and used them for a while. Then, in the midst of sex, he'd discovered his own personal shinigami powers, expelling hers into her, except their powers had intermixed, and while they'd been doing the dirty, their zanpakutous had apparently been doing the same. So far as she knew, nothing remotely resembling that had ever happened in the whole history of Soul Society. There was no way of knowing how it would turn out.

And somehow, she'd gotten taller.

How was she going to explain growing a foot? Sudden growth spurt? That was all she could say. Shinigami weren't human. Their bodies _could_ develop suddenly. It wasn't unheard of. Just really unusual.

And how to explain that she had someone else's reiatsu mixed in with hers? She'd have to wait to return until it faded. If it faded.

Rukia said, "And your eyes are purple."

What?" He leaped to the mirror, looked into it, and said, "I can't see myself in the mirror."

"Obviously. You're a spirit. You don't cast a shadow either."

"You saw yourself in the mirror," Ichigo said.

"You can pass through physical objects, or interact with them. This is like that. Reach out to the mirror with your reiatsu, and attune it to yourself."

Ichigo extended his reiatsu to the mirror, and his image appeared in it, at first wavering and indistinct, but gradually resolving as he got the hang of it.

And his eyes were the same dark purple as Rukia's.

"What the hell?"

"I have no explanation beyond that we've clearly influenced each other, and it will hopefully go away soon. And purple goes horribly with orange."

"Damn right it does." He scowled. "So now what?"

"I go back to Soul Society for a check in as soon as possible. I could tell them that you're a Plus who discovered his shinigami powers before turning into a Hollow. That's not unheard of." Just very, very unusual. Legendary, even.

Ichigo said, "What are you going on about?"

"Your powers now aren't just borrowed. You're a real shinigami and you're going to stay that way. You'll have to come back with me."

"Stop joking."

"I'm serious."

"I have a family, Rukia. I have a life. I'm _alive._ I have a body right over there." He pointed to the closet.

The closet moaned.

Rukia and Ichigo straightened. Paying attention, soft sounds were coming out of the closet, competing with the loud music from downstairs.

Thinking back, Ichigo thought there might have been much louder noises from the closet earlier that hadn't registered in the midst of his own enthusiasm.

Ichigo opened the closet and they paled at what they saw.

Rukia shrieked, "Bad Chappy! Bad Chappy! Bad! You do not do that with my gigai!"  
"That's my body!" Ichigo yelled. "Kon, I'm going to kill you!"

"You did it too," Kon muttered.

#

#

They sat on the roof in Shinigami form, gazing at the moon. Rukia's gigai had deflated into a fist-sized fleshy ball that fit into a black bag hanging at her waist.

Ichigo "You don't need it anymore?"

"I can get spirit food from Urahara-san."

"Who?"

"I'll introduce you. He has good candy. I stopped there as soon as I entered your town."

"Sounds good." The cicadas were buzzing, the moon was bright, and in Shinigami form, he could stars that the city lights hid from human eyes. He had a strong desire to put an arm around Rukia's shoulder and pull her close, which was very stupid and something he wouldn't do. "I'm not going to Soul Society with you to pretend I'm dead. So what do we do instead?"

Rukia said, "Given that this is now likely your permanent state, I'll have to teach you more, about controlling and hiding your reiatsu, so you don't attract Hollows or hurt humans by accident."

"That can happen?"

"Yes. We'll go to Urahara's tomorrow, after you're done with school. He might have a gadget to help."

"After I'm done with school? What about you?"

She said, "Some of Kuchiki Rukia's family troubles were resolved, and her Aunt came to pick her up tonight. It was very sudden, and she was sad to leave, but happy to go. Tell the people at school that you saw me leave, in a nice car driven by my Aunt, a cool-looking businesswoman."

Ichigo said, "Making sure they don't worry?"

"I merely don't wish to cause a fuss."

"Sure."

Rukia said, "There's no sense in causing unnecessary concern."

Ichigo snorted. "You've known them for over a month. It'd be scary if you weren't attached at least a little."

"I'm not attached."

"A little," he said.

Looking at him coldly Rukia said, "An appropriately minimal amount."

"So no worries about leaving Karakura?"

"I'm not leaving. I'll be going to and from home a lot, but I'll try to make sure this assignment lasts a long time. Definitely at least until you can control your powers better. Now put your zanpakutou across your lap like so. I'm going to teach you jinzen. The key to controlling your powers is communicating with your zanpakutou and sealing that cleaver."

#  
#

The door to the comfortably old shop, chimed, letting in two shinigami of near equal heighth. The orange-haired one had a large but otherwise unremarkable sword going through a short sheath on his back.

The black-haired woman said, "A one-armed middle-aged man dressed in black?"

"Yeah. Why do you think that's so strange?"

"It's not strange, it's just not what Yuki-chan said."

"Yeah, well, maybe he looked different to Yuki-chan."

"I guess." She shrugged, and fixed her eyes on the owner of the shop, who had a fan over his mouth, and said, "Urahara-san, I'm hungry, whatchya got?"

Uraraha Kisuke had his fan covering the lower half of his face so they wouldn't see him gaping. "Kuchiki-san, your powers are back?"

"Yep. Your gigai worked great." She gave him a thumbs up, and tossed a small black silk pouch to him. "Don't need it anymore though."

Urahara Kisuke said, "And you grew."

"You're imagining things. I've always been this tall."

"I took your measurements for the gigai."

"You're imagining things," she said again. "How about that food?"

Hands moving rapidly, unsteadily, Urahara took a candybar from a white box behind him, but stopped, hesitating, looking at Ichigo. "And who's this?"

Rukia said, "This is Kurosaki Ichigo, a Kohai of mine. There's a lot of activity here, so he's been sent to help. He's strong, but I can't believe they let him graduate the Academy with his skills. Do you know a place for me to whip him into shape?"

"A kohai?" said Urahara. "I wondered if he might be human."

"What is that supposed to mean?" said Rukia, tapping a foot, Ichigo looking offended behind her.

"Just that I thought you had lost your powers because you'd given them to a human."

Rukia voice was harsh, and her eyes were fierce. "Hey, I owe you one, but don't be insulting. I told you I killed a Hollow that had strange powers, and I've been killing the other Hollows since then with Kido. I just hid my situation because I didn't want to look weak in front of my brother. If I did, he'd never let me go on a solo mission again. That's all. But I'm fine now."

Urahara-san said, "But it seems like you and Kurosaki-san have intermixed reiatsus."

She froze.

"Don't worry, Kuchiki-san, hardly anyone but me would notice. But how did that happen?"

Rukia took Ichigo's arm and looked demurely at the ground, only incompletely hiding the blush rising in her cheeks. "Oh, you know, this and that." She raised her gaze, not demure at all, and said, "I trust you won't mention this to anyone. Especially not my brother."

"Of course not," said Urahara, raising his hands in supplication. "How would I even meet your honored brother? Sorry for insulting you, my mistake. Kurosaki-san, that's a mighty big zanpakutou you have. It almost looks like a shikai."

Ichigo said, "It's a sealed form. Rukia-senpai wants me to make it smaller.

"Yes, yes, so good to see such a well-respected shinigami as Kuchiki-san taking good care of a kohai." He turned the candybar around, Urahara looked at the label on the back. "Oh! This is expired, so sorry for nearly troubling you with expired goods." He dropped it in a trashcan behind the counter and opened the fridge behind him.

A minute later, sitting at the small table squeezed in one corner, Ichigo and Rukia each had an onigiri, a chocolate bar, and milk.

It wasn't a lot of food, but he felt stuffed. Soul food, which meant food made from spirit particles. From what Rukia had said, a little went a long way.

Rukia said, "So, Urahara-san, about that training space."

#

#

Urahara had led them into a ridiculously vast underground desert landscape, explaining that he'd always liked digging and with real estate so expensive in Japan, it'd been the economical way to get a nice yard. An explanation neither of them believed.

Rukia said, "Urahara-san, we'd like some privacy."

Lounging on a rock, Urahara said, "And I'd like a show."

Rukia said, "We plan to show our shikais, which means this is private. Division 13 members only."

"Kurosaki-san, you're part of Division 13? Do you like it?"

Remembering what Rukia had told him earlier, Ichigo said, "For a Division with no Vice-Captain and a chronically sick Captain, it's damn good."

"My my my," said Urahara. "How interesting. I'll leave you two to your privacy."

He went back up the ladder and closed the trap door, leaving them alone in the underground desert.

Rukia said, "I can't stay here long. I need to patrol. But I want to show you what a shinigami is, here, where we don't have to worry." She drew her zanpakutou.

Ichigo said, "Hey, shouldn't we be using practice swords?"

"These are zanpakutou, Ichigo, not swords, and we've learned their names. They won't cut what we don't want to cut."

Ichigo drew his zanpakutou, in its sealed form. It had changed slightly from when he'd first gotten it when Rukia had stabbed him, but was largely the same. Mainly, the gold on the hilt had turned white.

"Ready?" said Rukia.

Ichigo nodded.

Rukia disappeared, and Ichigo hit the dirt, Rukia behind him, lowering her leg from the hit.

"The hell was that?" said Ichigo, pushing himself to his feet and spitting dirt out of his mouth.

"That was shunpo," said Rukia. "Maybe I'll teach you later."

"No more shunpo until you've taught me," Ichigo said.

"Sure." She darted forward, no shunpo, simply speed, and he barely got his sword up in time to block.

Blocking was a mistake. When their zanpakutou met, she pushed, and Ichigo was thrown onto his back once more.

"You're strong," said Ichigo, getting up.

"Ready?"

He nodded, and Rukia moved in, no longer trying to overwhelm him with strength and speed, though she was still faster and stronger. She worked his blade high, then low, cut him lightly in the ribs, kicked him in the shin, struck his cheek with the flat of her blade.

Backpedaling, chest stinging from a superficial stab, Ichigo said, "Shouldn't you be clumsy from getting taller?"

"This is me being clumsy. You've done some zanjutsu before."

"Kendo," he said, "Goat chin made me. It was fun, but I stopped because I didn't think I'd ever actually be carrying a sword around in real life. Guess I am now."

"I told you, these are not swords. They're zanpakutou. Use your shikai. You said it told you how?"

Ichigo raised his zanpakutou. "Protect stuff, Zangetsu." The sword changed shape, the long ribbon wrapping around his arm, and his reiatsu rose.

Rukia laughed. "Protect _stuff?_ _Stuff?"_

"It's what Zangetsu wants," he said, defensive.

"Couldn't you just say 'protect?'"

"He wants the 'stuff' part," said Ichigo, sheepish. "What's yours?"

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki." Her sword turned pure white and grew a white ribbon coming off the end of the hilt, much like his own though not so long. Her reiatsu went even higher than his, and the temperature in the underground desert dropped several degrees.

"It's pretty," said Ichigo.

Rukia said, "Different shikai have different abilities. Look at yours. Tell me what you see."

Examining the blade in his hands, Ichigo said, "It's long, so I should have good reach. It's big and heavy, which could help me overwhelm hollows. There's no guard, but the base is so broad that I don't think I need one."

Rukia said, "Your zanpakutou is weighted much heavily toward the bottom. That affects your leverage. You want your strikes to have the weight of the blade behind them, so learn how that feels. It's so broad it can be used as a shield. And the long ribbon isn't just there for decoration. There's something you can do with it. Everything else, you'll have to learn from Zangetsu."

Ichigo said, "What does yours do?"

"Don't come too close," she said. She swept her blade in a half circle, the ribbon completing the circle. The ground beneath her turned white, and she leaped away, saying, "Some no Mai, Tsukishiro."

A pillar of clear ice ten feet wide at the least rose up, coming to halt only when it reached the ceiling. A massive construction that left Ichigo feeling dwarfed and insignificant. He circled it in awe.

Rukia said, "Hakuren does much the same, but the ice pillar is horizontal instead of vertical. And there are others I prefer to keep up my sleeve."

Ichigo said, "If you're this strong, how come you lost to that Hollow?"

"I wouldn't have if _someone_ hadn't been distracting me."

"You still should've killed it quickly."

"I should've," she allowed. "But that night was weird. First I didn't hear the Hollows, and overall, I just wasn't right. You remember when I cut its arm? My strike should've lopped the arm clean off, but it didn't. I felt almost like I had a limiter on. I guess I was sick, but I'm all better now."

In point of fact, she felt stronger. Her reiryoku and reiatsu seemed higher than the night before, higher than they'd ever been. She'd also been sensing others more acutely, and doing shunpo, it had felt easier to control reiatsu outside her body than before.

Perhaps all incorrect perceptions, created by the contrast between virtual powerlessness and being back to her normal self. Or perhaps losing and regaining ones powers was an effective training method, if prohibitively extreme.

No need to tell Ichigo about that.

#

#

Urahara Kisuke had his hat over his head. A good position for thinking. He wished he had a certain black cat lying on his chest to offer advice, but Yoruichi had been away for years, gathering information in Soul Society and sending it back.

This changed everything. Or maybe hardly anything. Hard to say. Despite his efforts to reduce her to a human, to make her someone Aizen would never find, Kuchiki Rukia was stronger than ever. He'd poisoned her with a candybar and waited for a Hollow to injure her, planning to sweep in and offer her a gigai.

He'd been just about to save her and the Kurosaki family from that Hollow when she'd made the unexpected decision to give her powers to Ichigo, a happening which had presented its own difficulties and its own opportunities.

And now she had her powers back.

Maybe he should just remove the Hougyoku from her and hide it somewhere else? But the Hougyoku produced a unique energy that could only be muffled by its presence in a soul, and he was willing to bet Aizen was tied into many of the sensors Division 12 and the Kido corp had set up. In the moments in which the Hougyuku wasn't safely hidden in a soul, Aizen might find it.

He feared Aizen had finally identified Rukia as the one he'd hidden the Hougyoku in decades ago. Was that true or not? If Aizen knew, he should move the Hougyoku. If Aizen didn't know, he should leave it, trusting the Kuchiki Rukia was an increasingly strong unwitting guardian for it, and that Kuchiki Byakuya was a strong guardian of her.

And Kurosaki Ichigo...

Ichigo had always been a hidden card of unknown value. Seeing him with that shikai, he was almost certainly an Ace. And there was a strong connection now between Rukia and Ichigo. She was taller, their reiatsu was intermixed. Something had happened. The instruments he had monitoring his training basement suggested that their zanpakutou had been practically talking to each other during the spar.

Perhaps he should place his trust in that connection, in the wild card that Aizen could never see coming, a card Kisuke himself had no guess at the value of.

Perhaps he should watch closely and keep his options open.

:::

I do not see Rukia's petiteness as a fault to correct. I am slightly short, and many of my relatives are, as they say, 'vertically challenged.' But some transference of physical characteristics is needed, and I do not wish to change Rukia's coloration or face.

The Hougyoku was in Rukia before she came to Karakura. That's just a subtle detail of canon.

After the Soul Society arc, Rukia is revealed to be at or near Vice-Captain level, despite her having lost to that meh Hollow at the beginning. This could be attributed to Kubo plotting as he goes, and certainly he does that a lot. But not, I think, in this case. Re-reading chapter 1, Rukia flat out thought bubbles that 'What Has Happened to Me?'

I don't recall that this was ever stated in canon, but that Urahara did something to her seems like a reasonable supposition.


	3. Chapter 3: Masked Games

Ch 3: Mask Games

With her powers back, Rukia had told Ichigo he didn't have to Konso Pluses or purify Hollows. She'd told him his only responsibility was to learn to control his reiatsu to the point where he wouldn't cause problems.

And yet he was in shinigami form, standing on air above the river, fingering his necklace and bracelet. Black-beaded jewelry Rukia had bought from Urahara. Rukia, sounding impressed, had said putting them on cut down his leaking reiatsu by nearly half, with only a small blow to his reiryoku. It lowered the bar for how good his reiatsu control had to be, and that didn't make him happy.

He liked being in his shinigami more than his human body. It was light, fast, strong. His senses were heightened and he could stand on the air itself. Re-entering his human body was like strapping on heavy weights, plus sunglasses and earplugs.

Like wearing a tight, stifling suit with a tight, stifling tie. A rented suit that didn't belong to him.

And there were the shinigami tasks themselves to consider.

All his life, he'd seen ghosts, and they'd asked for his help, and he hadn't been able to do anything for them. As a shinigami, it was easy. Sending a single Plus to Soul Society was more worthwhile than anything he'd done in his entire life prior to meeting Rukia.

He'd found and sent on a Plus not half an hour ago. A fiftyish woman worried about whether her daughter would make it into a good college.

And now he was waiting, sensing, trying to detect the entrance of a Hollow, hoping to beat Rukia to it.

He didn't actually want to fight a Hollow, did he? Of course not. It was only that he hadn't fought one with Zangetsu, and he wanted to. Needed to know what that was like.

A Hollow had appeared in Karakura Town earlier, but Rukia, no doubt warned of its coming by her phone, had been waiting for it. Though on the other side of Town, he'd almost been able to see the brief fight. Rukia hiding her reiatsu, binding the Hollow with a quick Bakudo, and dispatching it with an efficient, textbook strike through the back of the head.

He knew from talking to her that she was embarrassed about her loss to a weak Hollow the night they'd met, and was determined to never deal so carelessly with an enemy again. Fighting Hollows was dangerous, and no matter how confident you were, something strange could happen.

So when the presence of a Hollow appeared not half a mile from him, he shouldn't have been so excited.

He wished he could shunpo to it, but Rukia had only shown him, not taught him, and he hadn't worked it out yet.

He made do with running as fast as he could, drawing his zanpakutou as he did. A fast human runner could cover half a mile in two minutes. Ichigo managed it in more like 20 seconds.

It was a small Hollow and low slung, crablike, with pincer arms, walking haltingly along the pitted sidewalk of the industrial district.

"Protect stuff, Zangetsu!"

The blade grew, changed shape, the white wrapping wrapping itself up his arm.

He could've taken the Hollow out with one blow from the back before it even saw him. That was what Rukia said to do. But it wasn't what he wanted.

Dropping directly in front of the Hollow, he swung. It raised a pincer to defend itself, and Zangetsu sheared through the pincer as if it wasn't there.

He pierced the mask with his blade tip and twisted. The mask broke, and he saw a chubby middle-aged woman, face twisted in fear, rage, misery and horrible hunger. She screamed, covering her face with her remaining pincer.

Ichigo raised Zangetsu high and brought Zangetsu down hard, cutting straight through her arms, straight through her head. A winning blow.

The Hollow dematerialized. Purified. And before her soul went to Soul Society, he saw her face. The fear, rage, misery and hunger were gone, replaced by peace, and Ichigo felt deep bone in his bones that had not killed her. He had saved her from a horrible monster.

"I want to keep being a shinigami," Ichigo said, and did not know what to think of himself for admitting it.

#

#

Ichigo's reiatsu within her hadn't faded. It had just become more intermixed. Like chocolate being mixed into milk, so they seemed like one substance. It was the same for him, and Rukia had given up on the idea they would be unmarked by the experience.

She hadn't gotten any shorter, and his eyes in shinigami form hadn't gotten any less purple.

She planned to go back to Soul Society in a day or two. She was hardly the first person to have the feel of her reiatsu change. It usually wasn't so sudden, true, but it would dovetail with getting taller. Clearly she'd gone through a dramatic change. A very private dramatic change.

But she was staying at least one more day, because, from what she'd heard Ichigo's sisters saying, it was an emotional day for Ichigo, and it was hard to keep ones reiatsu under control when ones emotions weren't.

His mother's deathday.

Perhaps she should leave them alone to it, but she hadn't checked the cemetery for Pluses yet. A plausible reason. She suppressed her own reiatsu as much as she could, since Karin seemed to sense her sometimes, and followed at a distance.

The Kurosakis had their little ceremony, and no orders came, no Hollows yet in Karakura town. A quiet morning, and she'd found a Plus near a statue to Konso, Ichigo glaring at her and moving to collect his sisters.

Idly, she saw Karin approach a girl on a clifflike hill. A strangely dressed girl who didn't feel like a human, and not like a spirit either.

Hand to the hilt of Sode no Shirayuki, Rukia shunpoed closer.

Coming up to fetch Karin, Ichigo saw the girl and froze. Stared. Stock still, his reiatsu roiling.

A Hollow appeared behind the girl. A moderately famous Hollow she'd seen pictures of. Grand Fisher.

She would've liked to kill it instantly, but a tentacle, extending from the top of its head like a single long hair was racing toward Karin, and Rukia didn't know if it was lethal or not.

Mid shunpo, Rukia called out, "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki," the quickest activation of shikai she'd ever managed, and cut through the tentacle, and on her backswing, sliced the 'girl,' the Hollow's lure, clean in half, ice crystals forming along the sweep of her blade.

Her eyes met Ichigo, and her chin rose.

Meaning without words. Ichigo understood. He would get his family away, and then, if needed, he would come back to help.

Gulping, screaming in frustration, he grabbed Karin, grabbed Yuzu, and took off.

The Grand Fisher laughed. "A shinigami. You look tasty."

"Jahuko," Rukia whispered, letting the tip of her blade dip into the earth. She continued the motion, raising Sode no Shirayuki, acting as if that had been nothing at all. Nothing but a whisper at the tip of her blade touching earth.

The chill racing through the ground reached the Hollow, and one leg froze solid. The Hollow screamed and leaped away, leaving that leg frozen to the ground, but the rest of its limbs were turning into hair.

Shunpo, and Rukia was behind it. A single strike through the back of the head, freezing it solid even as she cleaved it through.

The Grand Fisher fell, disintegrating into spirit particles to the sound of applause.

Rukia's eyes widened. Stepping out from behind a tree was a shinigami in the uniform of the Onmitsukido but his face covered, a sunhat like an upturned bowl on his head.

An Onmitsukido, checking up on her. Earlier than she'd expected. She could talk her way out of this easily, but if Ichigo showed up, it would all go to hell. The story she'd told Urahara would work with any shinigami but one like this. It was too likely he'd check the records for a shinigami from Division 13 named Kurosaki Ichigo. It was his job.

Her mouth dried. Her heart thudded. Ichigo had to stay away.

"Good afternoon. I'm Saido Eikichiro. You're Kuchiki Rukia, correct?" He looked from her to a picture in his hands. "In the picture, you're short."

"I grew."

"You're so efficient against such a famous Hollow. You're even greater than I'd heard."

"Thanks."

"Hmm. Why haven't you reported in?"

"I've been sending in reports," she protested. "And I've been performing all my duties. I just haven't been returning to Soul Society."

"Why, is the question. And for a while, our instruments couldn't sense your reiatsu. But you suddenly reappeared again the other day."

She looked around, took a step closer, lowered her voice, and said, "Can you keep a secret?"

"Depends on the secret."

Rukia said, "I got injured. Not life threatening, but almost. You might not think it, but my brother can be very overprotective. If he knew, he'd probably tell me I can't solo again until I've achieved bankai, or something ridiculous like that."

She pulled back an inch of cloth and let him see the very, very faint remnants of scarring from when the Hollow had injured her. Scarring she could've healed, but hadn't, for precisely this reason. "I'm almost fully recovered now. I thought I'd go back for my check in tomorrow."

"And your reiatsu?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "After I was injured, I hid my reiatsu as best I could and sheltered in a gigai, leaving only to Konso Pluses and purify Hollows. But I'm all better now."

Saido said, "I'll tell my superior."

"You can't tell them!"

"Relax. My supervisor isn't going to go running to Captain Kuchiki Byakuya. It's fine. Just come back tomorrow, and think about what you're going to tell Captain Kuchiki about your absences."

"I'll be sure to."

"One more thing. It looked like that boy and his dark-haired sister could see the Hollow, and us."

Rukia said, "Maybe. If there are psychics here, that's not my problem."

"It felt like the boy had a pretty firm handle on his spiritual powers."

"So much the better," said Rukia. "He won't cause problems that way."

The onmitsukido smiled. "True. Chao!"

The onmitsukido walked into the trees, as if he was leaving, but Rukia didn't miss that he hadn't activated senkaimon.

She shunpoed toward the cemetery's entrance, finding Ichigo and his family together. Careful to avoid eye contract, she stopped in a tree in front of Ichigo, letting him see she was fine, shaking her head as she did.

She shunpoed away, resolving not to return to Ichigo until the next morning.

When she felt the senkaimon activate behind her, she made no adjustment to that decision. She took a wide circuit around Karakura Town, looking for likely places where a Plus might be missed.

#

#

Rukia entered the Karakura household the next morning, while they were at breakfast. Yuzu and and Isshin gave no sign of noticing her, but Karin's eyes fixed on her for an instant before moving away, and not moving back. Not looking at her at all.

Rukia was nearly sure that Karin could see her, and was only pretending not to. But she would deal with that later. Ichigo stood abruptly, saying he had to get something from his room.

She followed him up the stairs to his room. Shutting the door behind them, Ichigo said, "Did you kill that Hollow?"

"I purified it."

"What was with the girl spirit? You sliced her in half."

Rukia said, "That Hollow was the Grand Fisher. It's famous. A bit powerful, and very clever. It uses something that looks like a Plus as bait. Any humans who see it are humans with spiritual power, and so, to it, worth eating. The 'girl' was that bait. Just a piece of the Hollow actually, so when it was near, I struck."

"I see." He was frowning more fiercely than ever, and anger and agitation rolled off him in waves.

Rukia said, "If you're mad, don't be pissy at me in silence. Say it."

"I've seen that Hollow before. The day my mother died."

Rukia clapped a hand over her mouth.

"I never knew why falling that little ways had hurt her like that. It just had. But now I guess it was that Hollow." He rubbed his eyes, but there weren't any tears.

"Ichigo, I-"

Ichigo said, "I wish I'd been the one. But if it had to be someone else, I'm glad it was you. And it won't hurt anyone ever again."

His mother... For the first time, she felt as if she'd done something good by loaning him her powers.

Ichigo said, "If it ate my mother, does that mean she was still somewhere inside it?"

"Most likely. If so, then your mother, also, has been freed and placed once more into the cycle of reincarnation."

He turned away, wiping his face with his sleeve.

Rukia said, "If you wish to talk, I will listen."

Voice rough, still facing away, he said, "Maybe sometime. What else happened? You beat the Hollow pretty quick, right, but then there was something else."

Rukia said, "An onmitsukido member, checking up on why I've been staying in the human world. Lucky you didn't come back while I was talking to him."

"Wasn't luck," he said. "I knew you didn't want me to come back. Like your were glaring at the back of my head. Is that a shinigami thing? Psychic communication?"

"Not normally. Maybe sensing your comrades' intentions is an ability of Zangetsu." Maybe. Possibly. But she didn't think so.

What in the world had they done to themselves?

Rukia said, "Ichigo, I'm going back to Soul Society tomorrow. I should only be gone a day or two, but Soul Society will send a Reliever to take my place. You can't let the Reliever see you in shinigami form. So just don't become a shinigami. Keep your reiatsu hidden, and let the Reliever take care of the Hollows.

"Got it."

#

#

Rukia stopped first at Division 13 Headquarters, where Kentaro and Kiyone made a fuss about her growth and told her the Captain was feeling healthy and he was away in District 60 of Rukongai, overseeing a transfer and looking for Hollows to kill, and they hadn't been allowed to come along because 'someone had to look after Headquarters and it was horrible, and yes they were happy to see her too.'

She answered a hundred questions about her height, grabbed a few useful books for Ichigo, and check in with her own Division done, she went to Division 6 Headquarters, because if she knew Onii-sama, (and she wasn't sure she did) he was very quietly anxious about how long she'd been away.

Division 6 Headquarters were more orderly than Division 13's. Dust and disorder were not allowed. Not that Division 13 Headquarters were a disorganized mess. They just had the look of being lived in by people who were comfortable living there. Division 6 Headquarters always had the look of having just been prepared for inspection by someone quietly terrifying, which was indeed the case.

The guard informed her that 'Captain Kuchiki' was in, and Rukia went looking for him. She was not a master of reiatsu sensing, but she was above average, and a Captain who wasn't actively hiding his presence was hard to miss.

She found her brother in the first Kido practice yard, showing it to a man with red hair who was facing away from her.

Her brother was saying, "...spend time here. Set an example by improving on your weaknesses."

The red-head grunted in agreement, and the grunt was almost familiar.

Her brother turned toward the red-head, and though she could not see his face, she could imagine the slight, unnerving arch of his brow.

The red-head said, "Yes, Captain Kuchiki." And that voice she certainly recognized.

"Renji?" she said incredulously.

Both men turned. Renji gaped, and Onii-sama's only indication of surprise was a widening of his eyes.

Onii-sama said, "Who are you?"

She bowed. "Onii-sama, it's me, Rukia. I don't look that different, do I?" Just taller.

Byakuya said, "Which tea do I despise at breakfast."

"O, Oolong."

"What's the name of my favorite koi, and why?"

"Blackie. Because Vice-Captain Yachiru spilled special ink on him that won't come off. Blackie is your favorite because he slapped Yachiru hard enough that she dropped him."

She did not have time for Renji's poleaxed expression. She was too busy realizing that her changes had so startled Onii-sama that he was confirming her identity.

He said, "Your presence has shifted subtly."

"Yes. Sode no Shirayuki and I had a meaningful conversation."

His eyes tracked up her body. Making her uncomfortable, because he seldom looked at her directly. He said, "The tailors will measure you for a new wardrobe."

She was about to tell him that wasn't necessary when she remembered it was. _Kuchiki_ Rukia's civilian clothing could be nothing less than stylish, expensive, and perfectly fitted.

Onii-sama said, "Explain your excessive absence."

"It was nothing. I became too caught up in the mission. It won't happen again."

Onii-sama nodded, accepting that as explanation enough. She wouldn't expect him to question her excuse in front of one of his subordinates.

Renji stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Kuchiki-san, I'm Vice-Captain Aba-"

"Shut up, Renji, you don't think I remember you?"

"I wanted to introduce myself as a Vi-"  
"As a Vice-Captain. Congratulations, big man." She clapped. Mocking clapping, in all likelihood.

Renji's face fell.

Mentally, Rukia cursed. She'd hardly talked to anyone but Ichigo for weeks, so she'd just started talking to Renji like she talked to Ichigo. But Renji had always been thinner-skinned than that.

"Really," she said. "Congratulations. It's a big accomplishment. How long have you been a Vice-Captain?"

"First day," he said, fingering the badge on his shoulder. "I've gotten a lot stronger since we saw each other last."

With Ichigo, she would've said she'd gotten stronger too and threatened to kick his ass, but he still wasn't Ichigo, so she said, "Be pretty weak if you hadn't," and knew the moment she'd said it that that wasn't right either.

She and Renji had used to talk all the time. How had that worked, exactly?

She glanced away from Renji. Onii-sama was not looking lost. He never looked lost. But he was watching them like a hawk. So Rukia explained, "Onii-sama, Renji and I were friends in Rukongai, then at the Academy, for a time."

Onii-sama said, "Then perhaps a spar between friends."

Rukia blinked, but wasn't truly surprised. A test, for her, because he was always testing her, and for his new Vice-Captain.

She wasn't seated, and Renji should've noted that she lacked the subtle markings on her shihakusho that indicated being seated. Which meant he'd think she was an easy mark. She wondered if she should let him win, so he wouldn't embarrass himself on his first day.

Renji said, "But Captain, this won't be a fair spar. What if I hurt her?"

She was going to kick his ass.

Onii-sama said, "As Vice-Captain, you are expected to train usefully with Division Members of all skill levels."

Renji said, "Here in the Kido Training Area?"

"Do you believe it would be damaged in the fight?"

"Nah, I'll be careful. If it gets damaged at all, I'll fix it myself."

Onii-sama acquiesced with a nod and a small, bloodless lip raise of amusement.

Thank you, Onii-sama! He didn't like Renji overlooking her either.

Rukia drew her zanpakutou, and Renji did the same.

It was tempting to imitate Onii-sama and use senka to shunpo behind and strike, but that was a dangerous move if you weren't fast enough, and she didn't know how fast Renji was.

Instead, she took a solid guard and waited.

He attacked, moving quickly with a powerful down stroke. She deflected, stepped back, thrust, and he blocked, trying to flip her blade with pure strength.

Instead of holding fast, Rukia retreated and side-stepped, keeping the spar to staccato bursts of bladework, watching him go from surprised to pleased to agitated as she kept up with him.

She had always been short, with small limbs. It had been a disadvantage she'd fought through, and when Hitsugaya Toushiro had shot up the ranks, she'd tried to convince herself it wasn't a disadvantage at all.

But sparring with Renji, there wasn't any doubt. Being tall was nice, and at about 5 foot 8, she was, for a woman, tall.

When their blades locked, she stood strong, her reiatsu rising, rising, and it was Renji who was pushed back, Renji who had to desperately backpedal to keep from being thrown on his ass.

With him on his backfoot, his strength on his blade was halved, and, pursuing him, maintaining the contact, Rukia slipped her left hand off the hilt.

"Bakudo Number-"

Desperate, Renji said, "Howl"

"4, Hainawa!" Crawling Rope.

"Zabimaru!"

At the yellow Kido rope shot forward, Renji's zanpakutou grew into a broad and jagged thing like many axeheads laid end to end. It shot out like a spring, breaking her Kido, forcing her to shunpo away.

At the shikai retracted, Rukia responded. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki," her blade turning white, the ribbon growing.

Though they were still at a distance, Renji swung, and Zabimaru extended like a spring, moved like a whip.

She brought Sode no Shirayuki up to parry, and Zabimaru flexed, pushing at her itself, forcing her back one foot, two, 10.

Rukia said, "Jahuko."

Frost traveled up Zabimaru, ice froze its workings, and the chill ran all the way to the hilt. Renji cursed.

Zabimaru hit the ground with a thunk, and a single step brought Rukia in close, her blade against Renji's neck. Beady black eyes looked shocked into her purple orbs. "Yield," she said.

Swallowing, angry, discomfited, Renji said, "I yield."

Sheathing Shirayuki, she bowed, first to Renji, then to her brother. "Onii-sama, I have been working hard."

Onii-sama nodded in acknowledgment, and it was only thanks to years of contact with him that she could see he was pleased.

With his left hand, Renji shattered the thin layer of ice that had covered his right hand and crawled partway up his forearm. He let go of the hilt, but it stayed stuck to his right hand, frozen on.

What had she just done, exactly? Jahuko, but her Jahuko went along the ground, not through an opponent's blade. But in the moment, she'd known she could do it, so she had. That was what fighting along with your zanpakutou meant.

Rukia said, "Renji, give me your hand. I can heal-"

"I'll go to one of the Division 4 healers," Renji said. He shook his hand hard, and layers of skin went with the hilt as it clattered on the ground. With a thought, he returned it to its sealed form, the ice coating the reduced blade more thickly than before.

With a cloth, he picked up Zabimaru by the pommel wincing as he did. "Captain, may I be excused?"

Byakuya waved him away, and he ran off.

Byakuya said, "Rukia, how cold was that ice?"

"I am unsure, Onii-sama. I wanted it cold enough to win, but not so cold as to kill him. I believe it may have been 40 or 50 below by the time it reached him. On the blade itself, it would have been colder."

Seeing that that pleased him, Rukia decided to press her luck. "Onii-sama, as I have just defeated your Vice-Captain, I wondered if you might reconsider what we spoke of before. About you possibly rescinding your request to Captain Ukitake that I not be given a seated position."

Byakuya flickered.

She whirled, drawing Sode no Shirayuki as she did, and the tip of Onii-sama's zanpakutou was pressed against her back, her zanpakutou still in mid-motion, not quick enough to parry.

She stilled, and Byakuya said, "When you can block my senka, then I will rescind my request."

When she could block, it, huh? If she'd had her blade out to start, perhaps she would've blocked it this time, but Onii-sama had started out sheathed as well. But she was getting closer. "Yes, Onii-sama."

Byakuya said, "I have heard that you defeated the Grand Fisher. Tell me of your assignment."  
So Rukia told him, leaving most of it, careful not to say anything that would cause him to want her to be reassigned, counting the hours until she could return to Karakura Town.

#

#

Aizen was pleased to think that he had Urahara cornered. Urahara underestimated his resources, because Urahara had no idea that he had become King of Heuco Mundo. No idea of all his surveillance, no idea of all the Hollows he got reports from.

So Urahara wanted to hide Kuchiki Rukia as a human. That would've been a good plan if not for the fact that nothing was hidden from him, that unlike Urahara, he could see every piece on the game board.

But now Kuchiki Rukia was taller and her reiatsu had subtly changed. That seemed like the work of the Hougyoku. Had Rukia used it herself, even behind its presumed barrier? Had Urahara withdrawn it and used it on her without tripping his sensors? Had it never been in her in the first place? Perhaps it had nothing to do with the Hougyoku at all.

He didn't know what Urahara had done, and he was hesitant to move until he did.

And the Kurosaki boy. Urahara might think the Kurosaki family was hidden, but it wasn't. He kept tabs on it. And while it wasn't completely shocking that the Kurosaki boy had developed shinigami powers, it was still interesting. Intriguing. That boy had developed shikai mere weeks after he'd first faced a Hollow.

He would have to send more Hollows to test them both.

For the moment, Aizen didn't know. There was uncertainty again. And he couldn't simply go into Karakura Town to find out. Urahara had his own countermeasures in place. His own monitors, for one, ready and hoping for the chance to prove to everyone that Aizen wasn't who they thought he was. Plus, without doubt, devices especially designed to kill him. Aizen didn't want to face those. Urahara Kisuke was the greatest inventor Soul Society had ever produced. There was too good of a chance one of those devices would work.

Aizen would watch and wait, preserving his options. Whatever move Urahara had made would only extend the game a little longer, not turn the tides of it.

:::

Rukia has gotten stronger, in ways she doesn't fully understand.

Presently, Rukia is stronger, more skilled and more experienced than Ichigo. As such, she carries more of the weight. But Ichigo's growth rate, is, of course, terrifying. As he becomes more powerful, he will accomplish more of note and shoulder more narration.


	4. Chapter 4: Zangetsus

**Ch 4: To and Fro**

On reclaiming the area from the Reliever, Afro-san, Rukia rushed straight to Ichigo's bedroom window.

He was at his desk, homework in process, but he looked up when she came through, shoving the homework aside.

"Any problems?" Ichigo asked.

She sat on the bed, carefully not thinking about what they'd used the bed for in the past. "No problems. I saw my comrades in Division 13. Sparred with an old friend I hadn't seen in decades. I lunched with Onii-sama." In a very fancy and traditional tea room, where he'd been as distant as ever and looked over her left shoulder as they spoke. When he'd pressed her again about why she'd been gone so long in the human world, she'd gone on at annoying length about all the interesting changes the human world was going through.

"Onii-sama?"

"He's a Captain," Rukia said. "One of Soul Society's 13 greatest shinigami.

"He's still your brother. You can your brother _sama?_ "

"And he's the Head of House Kuchiki."

"House Kuchiki?"

"It's one of the Four Great Noble Houses."

Ichigo bowed. "Welcome to my humble abode, Ojou-sama. Can this peasant get you anything? All my money? Blood? A first-born child?"

"Shut up."

"Never pegged you for a rich girl."

"I wasn't born a rich girl," she said. "I was adopted."

"Eh? How'd that happen?"

"It's not uncommon for nobles to adopt people," she answered stiffly. Usually people who'd already accomplished a lot. And they were driven to achieve more and more, to bring honor to the House, not held back to save them from broken fingernails.

She didn't want to think about that anymore.

Rukia said, "Did the Reliever see you?"

"Afro-san? Nah, saw him at a distance, but I stayed away. He took care of the Hollows, just small fry from what I could tell. I konsoed a couple of pluses when I was sure he wasn't around it, but that's it."

"Ichigo, that's dangerous. You could've been seen. Pluses can wait."

"Eh," he said, and pulled the hilt of his zanpakutou out his chest, in its sealed form.

Pulled out his zanpakutou _while in human form_.

Ichigo said, "I didn't pull Zangetsus all the way out. Just the hilt. Enough to do konso. Kuro-Ossan said I could do this. Even if Afro-san saw, he wouldn't understand."

"Back up," said Rukia. "Zangetsu _s_? And who is Kuro-Ossan?"

"I did more jinzen while you were gone, and...

#

#

 _Still in human form, Ichigo lay on his bed, eyes closed, breathing deep, lulling himself to elsewhere than sleep._

 _Close your eyes. Close them again. Again, a Russian doll of eyes closing within eyes, until you find yourself some place else. Then open them. That was how_ _had_ _Rukia told him to_ _perform_ _Jinzen._

 _Wind brushed his face beneath his face, and Ichigo opened_ _the eyes beneath his eyes._

 _He was in a side-ways world of blue skyscrapers_ _. He had been there before, but hadn't felt so steady then. So certain to stay there until he wished to leave._

 _The middle-aged man in black stared at him through tinted sunglasses._

 _Ichigo said, "Hey, Zangetsu. Do you have a favorite color?"_

 _The man was silent._

 _"Rukia said I should get to know you better." Looking out over the blue city topped by a blue sky, he said, "I hope it's blue."_

 _"I do not have such a thing as a favorite color."_

 _"Right. Tell me about yourself. Rukia said her zanpakutou saw a white me down here. What's that about?"_

 _Behind the man's sunglasses, his eyes widened._ _His cloak flowed into dust_ _, yet his coat grew no smaller_ _, though the white half of his sword flowed away._

 _The dust collected into a second form. A second Ichigo._

 _His skin and hair were dead white. The whites of his eyes were black, his pupils were white, and his irises were icy blue. His sh_ _i_ _hak_ _u_ _sho was white, with a subtle snowflake motif on his shoulders, white against white. A platinum crown sat on his head_ _, and he held a white_ _, triangular cleaver of a_ _sword._

 _The crowned Ichigo said,_ _"Yo._ _You called?_ _"_

 _Ichigo said, "You're the one Sode no Shirayuki talked to_ _?_ _"_

 _The crowned-one's grin was wide, and his mouth was black. "Yuki-chan and I did a lot more than talk."_

 _"Eh?"_

 _"As without, so within."_

 _"You mean..." said Ichigo, turning red._

 _"You should fuck Rukia again. Maybe then Yuki-chan and I will get more alone time."_

 _"You, wha, who the hell are you?"_

 _The crowned-one said, "I'm hurt, King. Don't you recognize me? I'm Zangetsu. I'm your power."_

 _"Then what about him?" He pointed to the old man._

 _"How the hell should I know if you don't? I was only born a little while ago. Seems like he's Zangetsu too."_

 _"Ah," said the old man. "We are both your power. We are one being, yet distinct."_

 _The crowned-one said, "And this one's been trying to hog your attention, I can tellya that. Asshole."_

 _The black one tightened his grip on his sword._

 _"You wanna go, old man?"_

 _"It is not meet that we should fight. But if you present yourself as an enemy, I will not hesitate to strike you down."_

 _"So you can put more than three words in a sentence, old man. Good to know. Let's find out how much force you can put in a swing."_

 _"That's enough!" said Ichigo, and they stopped._ _"Even if you're_ _different, you're both a part of me. It'll probably give me an awful headache or something if you fight."_

 _"Che," said the white one, lowering its white sword. "I'll let you off this time, old man, but if you try to suppress me again, I really will kick your ass. And I'm the real Zangetsu!"_

 _"I am also Zangetsu," the old man insisted._

 _The crowned-one raised its sword again._

 _"Don't fight," said Ichigo. "Fine, you're both Zangetsu. But you probably need your own names too." Looking at the black one, Ichigo said, "How about Kuro-Ossan?"_

 _Kuro-Ossan inclined his head._

 _"Pfft," said Ichigo. "You're as bad as Chad." He turned to the white one._ _"You could be Shiro-_ _san_ _."_

 _"Shiro-chan," he said. "_ _'C_ _han' is cooler. It's the contrast_ _with how scary I am_ _."_

 _"_ _Shiro-chan then," said Ichigo. "When I want shikai, how should I call you both?"_

 _Shiro-chan said, "I'd be fine with 'cool Zangetsu only._ _' But 'Zangetsus' would work.'"_

#

#

As Rukia stared, Ichigo said, "Watch. Reign over all Creation, Shiro-chan Zangetsu!"

Out of his body, he pulled an almost pure white sword with black wrappings and ribbon, of nearly the same shape as the full form, only half as wide.

He said, "Now this one. Protect stuff, Kuro-Ossan Zangetsu!"

He drew out a black sword with white wrappings and ribbon, of the same triangular cleaver-like shape as the white one. Comparing them, the white sword was a little shorter.

Ichigo said, "Cool right? Hey, what's wrong? You're looking at me weird."  
Rukia said, "It's unusual. I can only think of two people with a dual wield shikai." And they were both Captains.

"It doesn't have to be dual wield," he said. "Zangetsus, _Collaborate_."

The two zanpakutou's joined into one, black on top of white, the two hilts merging one without, by some miracle, crushing his fingers. The long ribbon was white on top and black on bottom.

"Split up," he said, and the zanpakutou's split into two.

"Collaborate," and they came together.

"Split up. Collaborate. Split up. Collaborate. Split up. Collaborate. Split up. Collaborate."

Finding her voice, Rukia said, "You've been working hard."

"There wasn't much to do. Watch this." With a wisp of fog, the shikai reduced to its sealed form, which was, Rukia noticed, significantly smaller than before. Like a thin odachi instead of his previous monstrosity. "Protect our Reign, Zangetsus." The massive black and white cleaver appeared again in his hands. "And that's how I summon both at once. They agreed to it as a compromise."

"A compromise release command," she said faintly.

"Shiro-chan wanted, 'Protect all the Parts of Creation we like,' but that's way too long and it sounds bad."

"You seem excited," she said. Effusive. Childlike, even. A mood she hadn't seem from him before.

"It's nice. Knowing they're there."

Scary, with Ichigo knowing they were there. She'd had only been gone two days, but Ichigo's reiatsu with the reiatsu blockers on was as high as it had been before with them off. Which meant he was rapidly reaching the power level of a Vice-Captain. And without something like a limiter cutting into his spiritual energy itself, reiatsu blockers could only go so far. As mammals produced heat, those with reiryoku produced reiatsu. It could only be finessed so far.

But finesse helped. "I got two books for you," Rukia said, setting them on his desk next to his homework, being careful to stop them from falling through, since they were made of spirit particles.

Ichigo read the titles. "The Art of Mastery of Reiryoku and Reiatsu. And Rules and Regulations. Rules and Regulations? Rukia, I understand the first, but what do I need Rules and Regulations for?"

"So you won't create any problems and you'll know how to not be noticed by shinigami. And in the worst case, if you're seen in Soul Form by a shinigami, you can fake being one too."

"Fake it, huh? Like I'm a criminal."

"I know it's not fair, but-"

"I haven't done anything wrong, and you didn't do anything wrong either."

"I broke the law."

"You saved my life, and your life, and my sisters' lives."

"Hating it doesn't change it, Ichigo! You have to accept the situation as it is, and do what you can. And that means you've done enough jinzen. Don't enter shinigami form. Don't get any stronger. The stronger you get, the harder it will be for you to keep your reiatsu to the level where it won't cause problems, and the harder it will be for you to avoid notice." She should never have taken him to Urahara's Training Basement. She should never have taught him jinzen. There others ways to seal a blade.

The night she'd first met Ichigo, she should've paid attention to the Hollow she was fighting instead of the human jabbering at her, and neither of them would be in such a mess at all.

Rukia said, "If you see a Plus, do Konso. If you're attacked by a Hollow, purify it. Otherwise, leave shinigami duties to the people who died.

Ichigo said, "What about Zangetsus? 'Not getting any stronger, not taking Soul Form, not doing shinigami duties,' means neglecting them. Ignoring them. You told me the relationship between shinigami and zanpakutou is sacred, and now you're telling me to pretend they don't exist."

Ichigo continued, "I want to get stronger, and I want to get legal, even if means taking a risk. Is there any way to do that?"

A sacred relationship. She couldn't deny that. Asking a shinigami to deny his zanpakutou was asking him to deny his deepest self. "When I go back to Seireitei, I'll see what I can do."

#  
#

Rukia didn't understand what Ghost Hunt was, but it sounded like something a shinigami should check out. Some sort of human ghost festival, perhaps.

Also, it pissed Ichigo off when she put her arms over her chest and said, "Bohahahaha!"

So when Ichigo's family decided to go, Rukia, feather light in soul form, hopped on Ichigo's shoulder and went along with them, shouting "Bohahahaha!" along with Yuzu and Isshin whenever they did it, enjoying the tick in Ichigo's cheek.

He tried to knock her off, so she stood on his head instead, and enjoyed his attempts to knock her off while pretending to scratch his head.

Bending, so her face was directly over his, she said, "You're a fun ride, Ichigo."

He turned bright red and sputtered.

Rukia frowned. What was his problem?

Ichigo's friend's approached, and Chad, rather than looking down at Ichigo, looked up at her, squinting.

Rukia leaped away into a tree. She'd noticed the big guy was slightly sensitive, like a few of Ichigo's friends. Was it possible he was sensitive enough that he could see her, or at least a blur? If so, then as fun as it was, she should stop riding Ichigo.

Rukia's thoughts screeched to halt as she realized why Ichigo had turned red. She hadn't meant it like _that._ Pervert had his mind in the gutter.

Turning red, she resolved not to refer to it as 'riding Ichigo' ever again. Standing. That was what she did. She stood on Ichigo while he walked. Ichigo standing.

As the crowd gathered around the abandoned hospital, an earth bound spirit, a demi-hollow, still likely months from becoming a Hollow in full, stalked out of the abandoned hospital, screaming about how he should've inherited it. Rukia fingered her zanpakutou, but did not draw it. A demi-hollow might make a fuss on Konso, so she'd take care of it once the crowd was gone.

The man with the microphone announced the event was going to start. A helicopter flew high overhead, and a man jumped out of it, announced as Don Kanonji, cape flapping behind him.

"Spirits are always with you!" he shouted, and a parachute popped out, slowing him to a reasonably slow landing.

Rukia clapped as enthusiastically as any of the rest of the crowd, not caring that he couldn't hear her. That entrance had been superb.

Don Kanonji approached the ghost, and Rukia was pleased to realize that he could actually see it. That he wasn't a fake made the festival better.

Don Kanonji raised his staff and struck the demi-hollow in the hole in its chest. The staff caught, actually making contact with the demi-hollow, aggravating the hole, damaging the flap of spiritual flesh holding its spirit chain fast, threatening to turn it rapidly into a true Hollow.

Rukia blurred, shunpoing to the demi-hollows side, knocked the staff away, then grabbed the shrieking demi-hollow by the neck.

Another shunpo gave her space, and, with Kanonji chasing after her, her zanpakutou sprang to hand, and she slammed the pommel to the demi-hollow's forehead, the most sudden and forceful Konso of her career.

She turned to face the psychic, face murderous, and kicked the staff right out of his hands.

By the time Rukia was done scolding Don Kanonji, the psychic was in tears, and several of Ichigo's friends had started to make out the blurry image that was the source of all the screeching.

#

#

Rukia was back in Seireitei, and so was Captain Ukitake, looking unusually healthy. She was in his office, and hadn't been so nervous to be so since her first week in the Division. Perhaps not even then.

Smiling, Captain Ukitake said, "Kuchika-chan. You really did get taller. And stronger too."

"Thank you for saying so, Captain," she said.

"Nonsense. It's the responsibility of Captains to notice their subordinates' improvements. What happened?"

"It is only that Sode no Shirayuki and I became closer." That ended the questioning. The relationship between shinigami and zanpakutou was not to be pried into. Rukia said, "Captain, I wonder if we could speak privately."

With a nod and a curious look, Ukitake led her into the backroom, and sealed the room with Kido.

She sat herself formally on the rug, folded her hands, and, voice a little high-pitched, said, "Captain Ukitake. I have a random, stupid question for you."

"Ask it," he said, smiling reassuringly.

"Hypothetically speaking, suppose a human awakened shinigami abilities while still alive."

Ukitake said. "That doesn't sound possible."

"I know. But if it did happen. What could be done?"

Leaning back in his chair and giving her a considering look, Ukitake said, " _Hypothetically speaking,_ it would depend significantly on the judgment of the Captain who first came across this impossible human shinigami. If the human shinigami were inducted into the Division, the human shinigami would be under the nearly inviolate jurisdiction of the Captain, excepting a direct order from Central 46. A wise captain would consider not noting his new recruit's origins at all, depending on his evaluation of the hybrid's character."

Rukia said, "Suppose the hybrid were of high character, but rather than becoming a shinigami full-time, he wished to live out his human life while continuing to purify Hollows and konso Pluses on the side."

Blinking slowly, Ukitake said, "In that case, a Captain could, if he liked, give the hybrid a longterm assignment in a sleepy town where one part-time shinigami could do everything needed. When his human body eventually died, all anyone would need to know was that his assignment had ended."

"I see."

"Rukia-chan, if you had a friend you'd like to introduce me to, I'd be happy to make his acquaintance, but remember that a Captain entering the human world draws attention. There's extra paperwork and curious subordinates."

"I'll keep that in mind."

:::

Hollow Ichigo/real Zangetsu is still a little Hollowesque due to the situation with Ichigo's mom, but without his experience in the shattered shaft, he's a lot less Hollowy. Also, it's not just Rukia who was affected by what they did.

I was going to skip Don Kanonji entirely, but re-reading the manga, I realized that if one does so, then presumably, he's still going around turning Pluses into Hollows and thinking he's helping them.

I don't remember how Ukitake addresses Rukia, so I decided to suggest moderate closeness.


	5. Chapter 5: Say Hello to Power

**Ch 5: Say Hello to Power**

Returning from Soul Society, Rukia dismissed Afro-san, and was making a general sweep of Karakura Town when she felt a sudden surge of anger, fear and determination from Ichigo.

He didn't feel like he thought he was in danger. Just extremely wary. And pissed off.

She was on her way to him when she received an order.

A Hollow in the park, quickly dealt with. A second. A third. A fourth. A rain of Hollows like she'd never seen in her career. And her phone was indicating the destruction of loads more Hollows than she herself was claiming. She could hardly believe how fast Ichigo had gotten.

In fact, even accounting for his incredible rate of improvement and the rudimentary shunpo she'd seen him attempting, she didn't believe it. Someone else was there. Someone else was defeating Hollows.

Karin was on Chad's shoulders, running from a Hollow on a soccer field. Rukia slew that Hollow. Purified an octopus looking Hollow that was floating over Orihime. And with that, the stragglers were clear.

The rest of the Hollow were appearing near the center of the city, where Ichigo was fighting desperately. She had to get to him. Especially had to get to him before the mystery shinigami did. Ichigo could repeat the story about being a new member of Division 13, but left to himself in a conversation with another shinigami, the odds of exposure were unacceptably high.

Finding him was as easy as finding her left hand with her right.

She reached him in the park, a whirling dervish with a zanpakutou in each hand, dispatching four Hollows in the time it took her to go from seeing him to being next to him.

"Ichigo!" she yelled. Implictit: what the hell is going on?

Ichigo said, "The stupid Quincy asshole spread bait so now there's Hollows everywhere."

"Quincy?" she yelled.

"Later. Afro-san?"

"He's gone. It's just us."

His tense nod conveyed that he didn't know whether to call that good or bad. Rukia didn't know either.

Though seldom within even shouting distance, they worked in tandem, defeating Hollow after Hollow. Rukia, with Kido, substantial mastery of shunpo, and generally more power, getting to more, but Ichigo was no slouch. Rather than tiring, he seemed to be growing faster and stronger with every moment.

Killing one Hollow, she cast Byakurai blind over her shoulder, and took one fighting Ichigo straight through the head. In the heat of battle, everything subsumed to action and reaction, she didn't even register that she'd done such a thing, or that Ichigo knew the location of incoming Hollows as soon as she did.

A shining streak passed over her and killed a Hollow. Another, then another. Not purified. Annihilated. Turning, she saw a boy, a teenager, dark-haired and rail thin, wearing glasses, a bow of spiritual energy in his hands, fingers bleeding. Presumably the 'Quincy' responsible for the mess. She would've socked him, but they might still need his help.

The last of the Hollows in the park fled into the sky. To the large crack in the sky.

Her phone was beeping, indicating a massive Hollow on the way. Level 8 at least. No, level 9 at least. And more. It couldn't be-

Reality parted, and a Menos Grande, a Gillian, stuck its masked face into Karakura Town. Black, tall as a skyscraper, a nearly senseless accumulation of souls, a mass of mindless hunger.

Trembling, the Quincy put an arrow to his string.

"Don't," yelled Rukia. "Your puny arrows will only piss it off, and it'll hit the town with a cero. I'll handle this."

She advanced, raising Sode no Shirayuki.

Ichigo trotted after her. "Rukia-"

"It's perfect," she said. Implicit: Perfect for my shikai. A powerful and slow attack for a powerful and slow monster.

"It is," he agreed, combining his Zangetsus into a single, more powerful blade.

Rukia did not hear. As the Garganta opened wider, Rukia was at the threshold of jinzen, asking Sode no Shirayuki for power, raising every scrap of reiatsu she could, glowing softly white.

Eyes open half-lidded, taking aim, she punctured the ground and declaimed, "Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren."

The ice shot out not as a horizontal encapsulating pillar, but as a gargantuan, sharp-tipped ice spear, some measure of size sacrificed for sheer, penetrating speed.

It went straight through the Gillian's chest.

The Gillian convulsed, screamed, purifying.

But not yet purified.

Maw opening wide beneath its hooknose, a red cero forming in its open mouth, sure to put a crater in Karakura Town before she could hit it with her cumbersome attack again.

That would not happen. Rukia would not let it happen. She would leap in front of the cero herself if she had to and confront its power with her own.

Sode no Shirayuki was shouting, so Rukia shouted along with her, words she'd never uttered before.

"Toushouga Tenshou!"

Rukia had no name for what left her blade. It was neither ice nor snow nor an explosion of reiatsu. To call the color white was like calling an idea tall, or a street confused. Simply the wrong sort of adjective.

If she had to describe the color as anything, she'd call it cold.

The cold sheared straight through the forming cero and hit the Gillian in its mask. The scream cut off, along with the cero, and the ice radiating from the ice-spear spread faster. The Gillian convulsed again, and as the garganta closed, the Gillian crumbled into snow.

The uplifting feeling of thousands of coagulated souls being purified spread through her.

Rukia let out a sigh of relief. A Gillian, and they were all still alive. And she'd used a new attack. Toushouga Tenshou. Freezing Fang Pierces Heaven. Not as powerful as the first two dances, but faster, nimbler, easier to set up. It had bought time for Hakuren to finish its work.

Her phoned beeped.

#  
#

As Rukia's eyes flew to her phone, a senkaimon opened hardly 20 feet from where the Garganta had been, and a tall figure stepped out, zanpakutou at the ready.

White Haori. White hair. The cause of her beeping phone. Ichigo separated his blades, and Rukia yelled, "Ca-Captain!"

Gaze unusually stern, he said, "Rukia. Was there a Menos here just now?"

"A Gillian," she said. "I purified it."

Ukitake raised an eyebrow as he grinned. "A Gillian? Rukia, well done. It seems there was no need for me to come." But he hardly looked put out. Rukia didn't need him to tell her that it was an excellent excuse to visit the Human World. Checking her phone for orders, Rukia said, "I think that was the end of the incursion."

Ukitake stretched out a hand, and countless ribbons appeared around him. Two red and many white. "It seems so." Ukitake said. The ribbons faded, and he looked at Ichigo.

Rukia laughed uncomfortably, artificially. "Ichigo, this is Ukitake Jushiro-sama, Captain of Division 13."

"Charmed," said Ichigo, warily lowering but not dropping his blades.

"A double shikia?" Ukitake said, incredulous.

"Yeah." He raised the blades. "Kuro-Ossan says I should be cautious of you, and Shiro-chan says we should run away and not fight you until we're stronger."

"And what do you say?"

"Charmed."

"Hmm. The two blades have different personalities?"

"Ah."

"And even different names?"

"Nah, they're both Zangetsu. I just gave them nicknames to simplify."

"Hmm." Ukitake's gaze skipped to Ishida. The Quincy stood stock still, like a deer hoping to be missed by a hunter.

Eyes still on the Quincy, Ukitake said, "Rukia, was there any particular cause to this incursion?"

"Ichigo said the Quincy spread bait."

"A Quincy," said Ukitake. "I haven't seen once since Souken-san."

"That's right," said Ichigo, slightly hesitant. "Ishida wanted to have a competition to see what's better, shinigami or Quincies. I thought we'd just fight it out, but he said we'd compete to see who could defeat the most Hollows. Then he spread that damn bait. It'll be a miracle if no Pluses got eaten and no humans got killed."

Rukia said, "Orihime, Tatsuki, Sado and your sister Karin were all being attacked by Hollows. They're all fine, but they probably wouldn't be if I hadn't intervened.

Ichigo's expression was murderous, and Rukia grabbed his shoulder to stop him from stepping forward and attacking the Quincy.

Ishida said, "There shouldn't have been that many Hollows. The bait shouldn't have worked that well."

"You know that for a fact?" said Ukitake. "Have you used this 'bait,' before?"

"No," Ishida admitted. "But I know what it's supposed to do."

"The spiritual density of this place is remarkable for the Human World. You wanted a few, and you started a stampede. That can happen. Why exactly did you create this 'challenge'?'

Ishida said, "I don't answer to you."

"Have you anything else to say in your defense?"

Ishida pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I have said quite enough."

Ukitake said, "Quincy. You've proven yourself an irresponsible danger to the humans around you. If no one was killed, we have luck to thank. And you have, for sport, destroyed souls which could have been purified. It is a crime for which death would not be an inappropriate punishment."

Ukitake flickered, appearing behind Ishika, and Ishida hit the ground with a choked scream. Rukia had glimpsed the blur of his blade moving forward and back, and the blur of Ukitake's off arm brushing the Quincy's back.

Rukia said, "Captain!"

"I didn't kill him. I only took his powers. As much as I might like to call it youthful stupidity and let him off, reckless endangerment of thousands has consequences." He looked regretful, but Rukia could not disagree.

Ichigo said, "So he'll be okay?"

"He will not see spirits anymore. Otherwise, he should be unharmed. Freed, one might say, to live a healthy and happy human life." Ukitake bent and whispered to Ishida, too quiet for Rukia to hear. The horror on the boy's face eased, though it hardly disappeared.

Standing, Ukitake said, "He will regain control of his body shortly. We should give him his privacy."

Ukitake swept away form the park, looking curiously at the streets. Like most Captains and Vice-Captains, who had their powers limited to 20% when entering the human world, Ukitake did not often leave Soul Society.

Rukia squeezed Ichigo's hand, indicating with her eyes that he should tell the partial truth, and said, "Captain Ukitake, this is the human I told you about. The one who spontaneously gained shinigami powers." She prayed Ichigo would play along.

Ichigo said, "Before we get into whatever the hell this will be, I need to check on something."

"Go ahead," said Ukitake.

Closing his eyes and focusing, Ichigo summoned spirit threads, much as Ukitake had minutes before, though with substantially more effort. Ukitake whistled.

Ichigo spoke quietly, intending only for Rukia to hear, pointing to three threads. "Karin. Yuzu. Goat Chin. Yuzu's thread practically overlaps with Goat Chin. They're together, and I think they're far away. And Kon's with Karin. They're probably at the house, but I still want to see her."

"Then lead on," said Captain Ukitake.

Ichigo stared at Ukitake, surprised the Captain had heard, regretting bringing his sisters' to Ukitake's attention.

Rukia smiled, and Ichigo relaxed fractionally. He led them toward his house at no great rate, glancing nervously back at the Captain.

Rukia walked a little closer to Ukitake and said, "I haven't heard about Quincies before."

Looking curiously through the windows of a convenience store, Ukitake said, "It's not something we like to talk about. Not something anyone is proud of. The Quincies were a group of humans who trained to combat Hollows. They developed their abilities to a fine art, and became dangerous combatants. At first, we were grateful, if confused.

"But before long, we realized that Quincies don't purify Hollows, they destroy them utterly. You may have felt it yourself."

"I did," said Rukia, "though I didn't understand."

Ichigo said, "The tingly feeling wasn't there."

Ukitake said, "Continued over time, purified ex-Hollows not being reborn in Soul Society would throw off the balance between worlds. You understand the implications?"

Ichigo had asked Rukia enough questions for him to say, in a horrified tone, "It would all go splat."

"Splat indeed. Our attempts to discover a way for Quincies to purify Hollows were fruitless, and the Quincies themselves were uninterested in at as a goal. Their reaction to our warnings of inter-dimensional destruction was disbelief.

"We requested that they restrict themselves to destroying only those Hollows that attacked them. The system of the worlds is rugged enough to handle that. But they insisted on being aggressive. On seeking Hollows out. Our offer that they could still help against Hollows by herding Pluses to shinigami was taken as an insult.

"Central 46 displayed unusual patience, but in the end, there was little choice. We made war on the Quincy. Most were killed. My own favored solution was to simply strip them of their powers, but that had little effect on the likelihood of their children having spiritual powers, and it's possible, if they work hard, for them to regain their abilities. You can see why the solution was rejected as flawed, though it was used on those who surrendered rather than fight, in most cases. In concert with monitoring devices."

On that anecdote about how Soul Society had, at one time, treated humans with unusual spiritual powers, Captain Ukitake said, "So, Kurosaki-kun, how did you gain shinigami powers?"

Ichigo said, "I don't really get it myself. I've always been able to see spirits. Then several weeks ago, Rukia entered my room to Konso a Plus that had followed me home, and I could see her, and touch her even, so we started talking. Then a Hollow attacked and she saved us. After that, I told her where all the local Pluses I knew about were.

"She said I was leaking too much reiatsu and it could cause problems, so she offered to teach me how to control my reiatsu a little. I'd been hearing whispering for a while. I'm not sure how long. And when I started doing the reiatsu control meditation, the whispers got louder and louder. And one day, when I was pretty focused, I just shouted it. Zangetsu."

Captain Ukitake said, "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing," he said, blushing slightly.

"Really?"

"It's just, er, when I finally did say the name, I wasn't meditating, exactly. I was er, doing something private. Very private."

"I see," said Ukitake. "Private by yourself, or private with a companion?"

Looking distinctly uncomfortable, Ichigo mumbled, "A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell."

Ukitake said, "I have a friend who achieved shikai in a similar way. He also has a double zanpakutou in shikai."

"Really?"

Ukitake said, "He claims that sex brings us more in tune with our deepest selves."

Rukia thought she'd never by able to look Captain Kyroraku in the eye again.

Ukitake said, "Are your parents spiritually sensitive?"

Ichigo said, "My dad can't sense ghosts at all. My mom could, but she died a few years ago."

Walking through Karakura Town, their conversation wandered through fights against Hollows to what Ichigo learned at his human school, Ichigo as nervous as she'd ever seen him, actually devoting some brain space to avoiding giving offense.

For her part, Rukia was a nervous wreck, trailing behind them, wincing at every word that might be a poor choice, sighing in relief each time Ukitake was unoffended, which was ridiculous, because he was Captain Ukitake. Nothing offended him. Ever.

But Ichigo's life might rest on what Ukitake thought of him, and Ukitake's reaction to the Quincy was a fresh-reminder that as nice as her Captain might, he didn't hesitate to take actions he thought appropriate.

They reached Ichigo's house. House on one end, clinic on the other. The sign on the clinic door was turned to closed, and the lights were off.

"Wait here," said Ichigo, stopping in front of the house. "I'll be out in a minute."

Ukitake said, "I'd like to see your human body."

"Yeah, sure, just wait a minute," he said, disappearing inside and firmly closing the door behind himself, leaving Ukitake and Rukia to wait.

Two minutes later, Ichigo came out holding his body by the shoulders, Kon inside.

Kon turned pale and stood at attention when he saw Ukitake.

"Gikon?" said Ukitake.

"Yeah," said Ichigo. "Makes it easier."

"How do you get in your body?"

"Usually Rukia punches him with that glove on, but I can do it myself if I need to."

Ichigo grabbed Kon by the shoulders, and forcefully shoved his head inside his body's head. The small ball that was Kon popped out the end, and Ichigo stepped further inside his body, twisting around until he was configured right and had disappeared within it.

Cracking his neck, he bent and picked up the little ball that was Kon.

"So," he said. "This is it. Human body."

Ukitake said, "Your shinigami form is more muscular."

"I exercise in it more," Ichigo replied.

"You discovered your zanpakutou while in human form. So how did you first leave your body?"

Oh crap. She should've thought of that. Should she say she noticed he felt like a shinigami and knocked him out of his body to take a look?

"I popped out automatically the first time. Here, I'll show you." Ichigo swung his left arm through the air, and he had two left hands, one physical, one spiritual, separated at the wrist. He swung it again, and his left arms diverged at the elbow. He grabbed his spiritual left arm with his physical right arm, and pulled it out to the shoulder. Spiritual left arm pressed to physical right shoulder. A twist, and his spiritual right shoulder came out.

With two more twists, Ichigo pulled himself out of his body, gently catching it as it fell.

Rukia had had no idea he could do that, as if his body were only a gigai. But she kept a passive look on her face as if she'd seen it before.

"Like that," said Ichigo. "It's a pain, so it's easier to use Kon."

Captain Ukitake said, "Your eyes are a different color in your spiritual form."

"I noticed. Is that strange?"

"Not exactly. Pluses always look just as they did in life, but spirits of Soul Society have natural hair and eye colors that don't occur in the Human World. That's true even among those who appeared as whole spirits, meaning their coloration changed in the process of coming over."

Rukia did not miss the implication. Ukitake was saying that in form, Ichigo was less like a human that somehow had shinigami powers than like a human that had died, been konsoed, and become a spirit of Soul Society.

Ukitake said, "What has Rukia taught you?"

"Mostly reiatsu control and suppression. She's been emphatic about that. But also a bit of zanjutsu, jinzen, how to do Konso, tactics for fighting Hollows. She hasn't really taught me shunpo, but I've picked up a bit."

Shunpo?" said Ukitake. "Show me." He gestured to the street, gray-black asphalt, white sidewalk and wood telephone poles.

"Right. Just a minute." He put Kon back in Ichigo's body. When Kon sat up, he said, "Go inside. Look to see if there's a note saying where Goat Chin and Yuzu went. Stay inside unless I call you."

When Kon had gone inside, Ichigo nodded, and in a single step, went from his own door to the sidewalk halfway up the block. He stumbled slightly on the step's end, but his second step, taking him most the rest of the way to the end, was surer.

Back and forth, Ichigo went. Back and forth.

Rukia stood at Ukitake's side and looked at him questioningly.

"He's a talent," Ukitake said.

"Exceptionally so."

"How much shunpo did you teach him?"

"He watched me, and I answered a few questions. That's all."

"Incredible. The only previous humans with shinigami abilities gained them by absorbing them from a shinigami. But there's no possible way to confuse him with that. His powers are clearly his own."

Rukia only nodded.

Ukitake said, "Shiba Kaien died in a very strange way, and here we have a very strange spirit who looks almost exactly like him. It's worth considering that he may be Kaien's reincarnation."

Rukia gasped. "He doesn't feel like the same person."

"A reincarnation isn't the same person. It's a reincarnation. Either way, it must've been shocking to see someone who looked so much like Kaien."

Only a little, and she'd held it inside. Over the years, she'd seen Kaien's nose, Kaien's lips, Kaien's jaw on many people, and it had long ceased to make her heart jerk. Too see them all at once on a single person was only coincidence.

Ukitake said, "He was the catalyst for your recent changes, wasn't he?"

Inventing wildly, Rukia said, "I still don't think he's the reincarnation of Kaien-dono. But spending time with him, acting as his mentor, I was able to understand Kaien-dono's feelings better, and I was finally able to forgive myself."

"It's an important block. I'm glad you've managed to overcome it. And Rukia, a little food for thought. Historically, nearly half the shinigami of the Shibi clan have had a zanpakutou with a name that included, 'Getsu.'"

Upon dropping that bomb, Ukitake shunpoed to Ichigo.

#

#

Ichigo did not have much time to decide on Captain Ukitake's offer, and missing a week of school wouldn't be good, but if you had the chance to visit a _different dimension of reality,_ you didn't let the fear that it would hinder your mastery of quadratic equations stop you.

Ukitake said, "We'll be entering through the Shihoin family senkaimon, which entered into my care until the Shihoin can produce a Captain class shinigami."

Ichigo supposed he would find out shortly what a senkaimon was. A method of entering Soul Society, apparently. "What about Rukia?"

Captain Ukitake said, "Kuchik-san will join us in two days. It's better that you not be associated with her too completely."

"And Karakura Town?"

"I'm sending a team to watch over it." Ukitake said. Ukitake stabbed his zanpakutou into the air itself, and traditional Japanese sliding screen doors appeared in the very air in front of them, opening into opaque shining white.

Ichigo must not've been as good at hiding his nerves as he 'dthought, because Rukia said, "It'll be fine. Senkaimon isn't dangerous."

Ukitake motioned for Ichigo to go first, and Ichigo stepped into the shining white.

:::

I know that right now that it feels like Rukia is ripping Ichigo off. But later, Ichigo will return the favor.

I feel like I wrote Ukitake very poorly. He doesn't feel like he's supposed to at all.

I don't remember if, canonically, Quincies can so easily have their powers stripped. Maybe Mimihagi allows Ukitake to do it. But it's the only option for dealing with Ishida here that doesn't create its own plot arc. You may think it's draconian, but I see Ukitake's response as quite merciful, especially compared to American criminal justice.


	6. Chapter 6: Gotei 13

**Ch 6: Gotei 13**

Ichigo emerged through the senkaimon into a traditional Japanese room. Tatami mats, and a very high ceiling fit to accommodate the transdimensional gate he'd just walked through.

It looked long abandoned, and his steps left tracks in the dust.

Ukitake stepped out of the senkaimon behind him, and the senkaimon closed, light fading, simply a large empty gate to nowhere but the part of the room right behind it.

"Let's go," said Ukitake.

He followed the Captain out a side door of the old house, and into a city made of white stone that felt strange to him.

"Follow me," said Ukitake, and shunpoed to the next street corner.

Ichigo needed three shunpoes to reach the street corner, and felt a tad short of breath when he did. He was in another fucking dimension, possibly breaking the law, and possibly joining the military. It was a little overwhelming, and he was breathing was hard for more reasons than just shunpo.

What the fuck was he doing?

Ukitake shunpoed away again, and Ichigo followed.

By the time they reached the Division 13 Headquarters, Ichigo was red-faced, sweating, and ready to sit. Ukitake gave him a minute to catch his breath, then led him into Headquarters.

They passed various black robed shinigami, many in the midst of practice. They all stopped as Ukitake passed, standing at attention, until Ukitake motioned for them to continue.

Walking behind Ukitake, Ichigo tried to look like he belonged.

They reached the Division's large, many-desked central office. The only person in the office was a blonde girl who looked about his age, or maybe even younger.

She shot to her feet and bowed, saying "Welcome back, Captain!"

"At ease, Kiyone."

"How's Rukia-chan?"

"In good health, and stronger every day. Kiyone-chan, Kurosaki-kun here needs new paperwork. Quickly, and the fewer questions asked, the better."

The girl nodded, frowning at Ichigo. She went to a closet, and drew out a camera.

After Ichigo had his picture taken against the wall, Ukitake led Ichigo into a back room that had several cushions, a low table, and three shelves of books.

Ukitake said, "Wait here. The restroom is through that door. I'll be back in an hour or two."

Ichigo sat. He was not having a panic attack. Not anything like a panic attack. Rukia trusted Ukitake, which meant he could trust Ukitake. That helped. He repeated it as a mantra, grabbed a book and settled in to wait, trying not to be frightened.

#

#

Ichigo turned the page. He was nearly a third the way through a book on the establishment of the Gotei 13, and his biggest takeaway was that Ukitake was ridiculously old.

Ukitake came in, closed the door behind himself, holding a sheath of papers, which he set on the low table.

"Here's your badge," said Ukitake, handing a ceramic square to Ichigo.

It had his scowling picture on the front, and listed him as Shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo, Division 13. Next to the name was a long series of numbers and letters that he supposed he should memorize.

Gesturing to the papers laid on the table, Ukitake said, "Observe the famous and glorious art of paperwork, badly done."

The form declared itself to be a roster correction form, replacing a form that had been damaged or lost, and it was filled in messily. Ichigo's name was legible enough, as well as his status as a shinigami of Division 13, and his hair and eye color, and surprisingly accurate guesses at his height and weight. Under 'induction' was a blotch, that, if looked at patiently, resolved into 'by prerogative.' But his date of induction could be read as any of several dates, and his mission record was chicken scratch with the occasional word standing out as an island of de-contextualized meaning.

What was really amazing was that the illegible parts hardly looked any different than the legible parts. The same characteristics which had made the legible merely messy had subtly increased, turning the writing into incomprehensible squiggles while remaining unmistakably writing.

"Very artistic," said Ichigo.

"It's Kiyone who deserves your compliments. She's a paperwork master. Now sign, and infuse your reiatsu into the seal."

As Ichigo did so, Ukitake said, "The most probable date for your induction to be read as is the night Rukia reports you first drew on your powers. Since then, you've been undergoing training, and assisting. If pressed, you're from Rukongai, but weren't there long before being spotted. But it's better not to say any of that, which shouldn't be hard. You won't be interrogated. If anyone asks, look sad and don't answer. As for your education, let people assume you went to the Academy, but don't claim it. If you have to, say I inducted you by prerogative, which is true."

#

#

Integrating into Division 13 was no trouble at all. At morning assembly, Captain Ukitake welcomed four people back from 'stations in the Human World,' and Ichigo was one of them.

No one questioned it, or noted how vague Ukitake had been. Divisions had enough shinigami that it wasn't odd to not recognize a comrade, especially if the comrade was low ranking and had only been a shinigami for, 'Eh, not long. I haven't kept track.'

A few of them even claimed to vaguely recollect Ichigo, the surest example he'd ever seen of the deceptiveness of memory.

His orange hair had always drawn a lot of attention, but Seireitei wasn't Japan. The vast majority had black or dark brown hair, true, but quite a few had blond, white or silvery hair. Red. Strawberry blond. Looking around, Ichigo saw a few with more exotic colors, like green, blue, purple, and two with hair that could only be described as orange, though a less aggressive orange than his own.

It was a little nice and a little odd, not sticking out.

Training was a surprise. They went together into a vast dojo bigger than most parks, grabbed practice shinai that seemed to be made of more than bamboo, Ichigo taking one of the same length as his sealed zanpakutou.

He didn't quite get why they weren't using zanpakutou. When he trained with Rukia, they just dulled their blades by the simple expedient of having no killing intent.

The training started, and Ichigo discovered that rank and file shinigami were weak. Nothing compared to Rukia. After he'd knocked his third one down, he throttled his reiryoku, forcing himself to use less than his usual passive level, trying to match his opponents.

That took a lot of focus, and Ichigo eased up to compensate. Even then, with strength and speed nearly equalized, he felt the skill gap in his opponents' favor, and let his reiryoku ease up a little more so he wouldn't be one giant bruise by the end of training.

Though he wished he had someone to cut loose against, Ichigo decided it was pretty good training. Work on his skill with a blade, and work on his control of his reiryoku. After ninety minutes of that, they went outside together, legs hanging off the end of an endless porch, sweating, drinking water, and slapping each other on the back.

Ioshima, one of the ones who claimed to vaguely recollect Ichigo, said, "You've gotten good."

"Been working hard," Ichigo agreed. "Getting shikai made a big difference."

"Ohh, shikai!" said Megumi. "Show us."

"I'm not sure I-"

"Show us," shouted another. And at once, everyone around him was chanting, "Show, show, show, show, show."

"Alright already!" said Ichigo, putting a hand to Zangetsu. "Just give me some space."

The shinigami backed away, and Ichigo drew his zanpakutou. He said, "Protect our Reign, Zangetsus."

The shinigami ooed and ahhed when the two blades appeared. Lately, the shikai had started out separated. Both Zangetsus preferred that.

"Two blades! Just like Captains Ukitake and Kyouraku."

Ichigo waited for the exclamations of surprise to die down, wondering if he should've released them as a single blade and not demonstrated that he could separate them.

Shiro-chan said, _"Flare our reiatsu, Ichigo. Make them all kneel!"_

 _"Shut up_ ," he thought back.

"They feel strong," said Ioshima. "The black one especially seems ready to shear through an asauchi. What do they do?"

Ichigo said, "Well, right now, Kuro-Osssan is embarrassed by all the attention and trying to hide it. Shiro-chan is lapping up the attention like a dog with a bowl of bacon grease, though he didn't like how you talked about Kuro-Ossan instead of him."

Laughter. "What's your shikai's powers, idiot?"

"I don't know yet. They're different, I can tell that. Kuro-Ossan," he hefted the black blade, "has some sort of Kido attack I haven't figured out yet. There's been a blue flash a couple times, and a gash from it. I think I'll have it soon. Shiro-chan," he hefted the white blade, "isn't so eager to please, so I have no idea."

 _"I told you already_ _._ _I have the power of a King!"_

Ichigo said, "I need to do a lot more jinzen."

#

#

Even with Ichigo gone, Rukia kept using his house as her base of operations. She could say what she liked about it being conveniently located, or about the Kurosaki sisters being attractive to Hollows, but the truth was that she was comfortable there.

Not in Ichigo's room, though. Kon was too annoying. Instead, she stood at the top of a telephone pole outside the house. A good place to contemplate all the lies she'd told her Captain. How Ukitake had noticed every strange detail, and put them together into the wrong picture.

A door shut, and she felt Karin leaving the house. Probably headed for the park.

But Karin turned away from the park and stood at the base of the telephone pole. "Samurai Ghost Lady!" she said.

Rukia looked down. So Karin had finally stopped pretending she couldn't see her.

"Where's Ichi-nii?"

"Isn't he at your house?" Rukia asked.

"That's not Ichi-nii. I don't know who he is, and I don't mind him, but he's not Ichi-nii."

"No," agreed Rukia, "he's not. But Ichigo is fine. He's on a business trip. He'll be back in a week or so."

"A business trip killing those monsters?" Karin asked.

"No. Just paperwork. Almost like a vacation, or camp."

"What are you, exactly?"

She stepped off the telephone pole, landing lightly in front of the girl, and bowed. "Kuchiki Rukia, shinigami of Division 13 of the Gotei 13, at your service."

"Kurosaki Karin," said Karin, blankly. "But you already knew that. Shinigami, huh? Does that mean Ichi-nii is a shinigami too?"

Rukia said, "Ichigo is very unusual. He's a shinigami, but usually talented people like you and your brother don't become shinigami until after they die. Ichigo became one while still alive. That's very strange, so for now, we're keeping it a secret. If you meet another shinigami, you shouldn't mention it."

"You're dead?" said Karin.

"That's a complicated question. Shinigami die and become humans. Humans die, and sometimes become shinigami. In the reincarnation cycle, we're all dead from someone's perspective. As shinigami, we move Pluses, what you call ghosts, to the next cycle, and when we have to, we fight Hollows."

"It was a lot of 'Hollows' the other day."

Rukia said, "A criminal spread Hollow bait here. He's been dealt with, and he shouldn't do that sort of thing again.

Karin said, "What are those monsters anyway?"

So Rukia explained, about how Pluses turned into Hollows, how shinigami purified Hollows, and that Hollows tried to eat Pluses and spiritually sensitive humans. Humans like Karin.

Rukia concluded, "Always wear the necklace and bracelets Ichigo gave you. They help hide you from Hollows." She wondered if she should lead Karin through any exercises to control her reiatsu. Probably not. If she was anything like Ichigo, she'd end up becoming absurdly, bothersomely powerful for a human, and maybe, just maybe, she'd awaken shinigami powers without any loaning of powers or odd erotic activities.

"So all I can do is hide?" Karin said.

"It's my job to make sure you don't even have to worry about them. But if you want to help, you can tell me about any Pluses you see. If they'll move, you can even drag them here for me to Konso. I'll be leaving for a few days, though, and you shouldn't approach my replacement. Not that he'd hurt you, but it's generally better not to attract the attention of bureaucracy."

What a wonderful message to have to give. 'There are ravenous monsters out there that would love to eat you. You can't stop them, just hope the shinigami do. But don't trust the shinigami either. They might be just as bad if you attract their attention.'

Not for the first time, she wished Seireitei was as kind and just as it liked to pretend to be.

Rukia said, "There's a shop you can go to. The place where Ichigo got that necklace and the bracelets. Maybe the owner has something he could sell you to help keep yourself." Something to delay and distract, she imagined. That was a lot safer than training the girl, and a lot less likely to cause trouble.

#

#

Four young humans stood in Urahara's small shop. Karin and Inoue could see Hollows. Tatsuki and Chad were at the verge of it, and some strong power was slumbering lightly in Chad. Kisuke thought it would've awoken if Rukia hadn't saved him from the Hollow.

Karin came by her abilities naturally, but Inoue, Chad and, to a lesser extent, Tatsuki, had all been affected both by Kurosaki's reiatsu, and by the Hougyoku in Rukia. Decades in Soul Society and it had done nothing noticeable. But Kuchiki Rukia went to a human school for a few short weeks, and this happened.

As Urahara had long suspected, his Hougyoku-chan was more attuned to humans than spirits.

Urahara said, "You would all be safer pretending that you know nothing and see nothing. To do otherwise is to enter a war that's been on since long before you were born, and will continue long after you are dead. A war in which the villains are as evil as you can imagine, and the heroes are complicated, ruthless and protective of position.

"If you want to enter the war, follow me."

So saying, he took the stairs into his vast training basement, waiting to hear if the stairs would creak behind him.

Either way, he would be disappointed.

#

#

The kids had left, and Urahara Kisuke sat in his shop, Yoruichi in cat form on his lap, Kurosaki Isshin leaning across the table.

"It's not up to you," Urahara said to Isshin. "She wants to learn. So as long as she asks, I won't refuse. But what I teach her is up to you. It can be a few tricks to defend herself, or I can genuinely try to awaken her shinigami nature. Either way, I agree that I don't want her fighting anytime soon." Which wasn't to say that he wouldn't send her to fight if it was necessary.

Isshin hmmed. "She's only 11. But I was younger than her when I began my training." He wavered. "But for my type, it takes longer to learn to do anything. And Karin's been raised as a human."

Yoruichi said, "True, but didn't Masaki wanted them to have the choice?"

Isshin sighed. "What our timeline like?"

Urahara shrugged. "My gut says this long stalemate will break soon, but I can't know for sure. I know where I hid the Hougyoku, and I know it's still there."

Yawning, Yoruichi said, "And we know Aizen's been nosing around the right place."

Urahara said, "Does he have no idea of its location? Does he suspect? Does he know for sure? Those are all open questions. He hasn't made a move for it, but its protections are no joke. Even if he knows, he'll take his time. How much time? A week or five years? I don't know."

"What's your best guess?" Isshin growled.

Yoruichi said, "Within a year, the situation will change. He's degraded the Gotei 13 as much as he can without wrecking the facade that everything is okay, and if Kisuke is right, your son is too interesting for him to ignore. And I think he's sniffed out where the Hougyoku is."

"Then shouldn't you move it?" said Isshin.

Urahara said, "It's not that simple. The moment Aizen goes for it is the moment we can expose him. If we don't believe we can stop him, we might as well give up now."

Isshin sighed. "And Karakura Town is becoming the spiritual center."

Urahara blinked.

"Don't look so surprised. I may not be able to feel it, but I've always known this might happen, and I've regained enough of my powers to see some signs and deduce others. Which means, whether Karin can defend herself or not, it's damn likely her life will be under threat. Teach her, Kisuke-san, Yoruichi-san. But Kisuke, none of your 'the best way to improve is to bet your life on it,' crap Masaki told me about. Teach her like a normal person."

"I'll see to it," said Yoruichi, looking meaningfully at Urahara.

#  
#

When Rukia returned to Seireitei though the senkaimon, a Kuchiki retainer was there to meet her, which wasn't surprising.

What was odd was that it was Kuchiki Harapin, Onii-sama's grandfather's cousin, a clan elder and steward. He had two lesser retainers at his side, and was actually smiling at her.

"Ojou-sama," he greeted her.

"Harapin-dono," she replied with a bow of her own. Harapin had never been rude to her. Rarer than that, he had never been cruel to her. But he hadn't spent any more time in her company than etiquette required. She'd always thought he regarded her as a burden, as a duty to be discharged.

"Your feats do honor to the family," Harapin said.

"You praise me too highly."

"Slaying the slippery Grand Fisher, and now a Menos Grande. And it has not failed to reach my attention that, not long ago, you defeated the Vice-Captain of the 6th Division in a spar."

"This one is honored by your praise, but if the honorable Vice-Captain had approached the spar with seriousness, it would not have gone as it did."

"That may or may not be, Ojou-sama. I fancy you would've defeated him even if he had not been so foolish as to overlook you. But either way, it is a travesty that you are yet unseated. Perhaps you should be transferred to another Division, one where your talents will receive the recognition they deserve."

Rukia said, "I am humbled by your confidence, but I do not believe the 13th Division misvalues me. If there has been anyone opposed to my advancement, that person is not in the 13th Division."

Harapin looked mildly surprised, then contemplative.

Thinking about it upset her. The occasional over protectiveness was the surest proof she ever saw that Onii-sama cared, but that didn't mean it didn't grate.

Harapin said, "If I may be so forward, Ojou-sama, with a rise in rank, so comes a rise in one's duty's to the clan. Few know the weight of duty so intimately as Kuchiki Byakuya-dono."

Rukia was so startled she nearly missed a step. Harapin was being remarkably frank, and the explanation cooled her ire. And also explained why Harapin was being so friendly.

The chose to believe the charitable version. Now that Harapin knew she was useful, and not just a ragamuffin Onii-sama had all but picked up off the street, he was ready to regard her as part of the family.

#

#

Rukia's visit to the Estate was cut short when she felt that Ichigo was fighting a Hollow. She didn't know how she knew. She certainly didn't feel his reiatsu. She just knew, and how that worked was a question for later.

She told herself she was imagining it, but couldn't believe so.

The fight ended quickly, and Ichigo was fine, just pissed off, but she excused herself and rushed to the Division 13 Headquarters.

She bypassed the yard, slipping directly into Ukitake's office, and reported briefly to her Captain. He informed her that Ichigo was being passed off as a member of the Division, and no, he didn't know what exactly Ichigo was up to for the day.

Entering the yard, she was mobbed by her fellow shinigami, mostly the young and foolish ones, plus the two 3rd seats, of course, clamoring to know what it had been like to fight a Gillian, and hearing more exclamations about her height from those who hadn't seen her the last time.

Hopping on a rail so she was well above them, Rukia shouted, "The Gillian was big, clumsy, and frightening, which made my shikai a good match for it, and I'm fortunate I got the drop on it. If you want to know more, ask after you've beaten me in a match."

Hopping of the railing, she ignored the sounds of disappointment, leaned close to Kiyone, and asked, voice low, "How's Ichigo?"

"You know Ichigo? He's doing well. Today he tagged along with a couple of his friends to do a standby shift in District 18."

A shift? Friends? When Ukitake had invited Ichigo to visit Seireitei, she hadn't imagined that he'd be thrown willy-nilly into Division life like that. What if he were found out? He hardly knew any Kido, and he knew virtually nothing about Soul Society.

If she were fast, she could get to District 18 in little over an hour.

Kiyone said, "They should be back soon."

Or she could wait. "How's the Captain's health been?"

"Still in a good patch."

She went to her apartment to settle her things, thinking about what she'd like to add to it. Even though she had a Kuchiki expense account, she hated using it for personal reasons, but the money from purifying the Gillian would go a very long way indeed. She'd start with new speakers.

Re-entering the yard, a hand tapped her shoulder. Itoo Kenji, the middle-aged 4th seat, sporting a straight edged field of dark stubble on his cheeks and chin. He said, "Kuchiki-san, I'll take you up on that challenge."

Smirking, she said, "Shinai, or zanpakutou?"

"Zanpakutou. No shikai. No Kido either."

"You're stacking the deck in your favor, Itoo-san."

"I want a spar, not another embarrassing experience with Bakudo."

Smiling at the reminder of what was, for her, a good memory, Rukia drew her zanpakutou.

A circle cleared around them, everyone excited to see a spar between the 4th seat and the Kuchiki who, despite unseated, had recently defeated a Gillian and was acknowledged as one of the strongest in the Division.

Rukia said, "Shunpo is allowed though, yeah?"

For answer, Itoo shunpoed behind her.

Except she'd shunpoed too, to right behind where she'd known he'd go.

As he darted away, she shaved stubble off the side of his cheek, letting him know she could've ended it there, a movement so fast that only a few of the top seats saw it.

He took his guard position, noticeably more cautious, and Rukia attacked.

Strike, lock, thrust, downswing, swing back up, riposte, thrust, Itoo stepping back with every blow, needing all his strength to deflect as Rukia played around.

He wasn't bad, but compared to Renji, he wasn't much. Not much compared to Ichigo either.

The lull in her concentration created by the thought that Ichigo had nearly as much raw power as Renji and Renji was a Vice-Captain was not enough for Itoo to take advantage.

Stepping back, she reduced her spiritual energy until it was just above Itoo's. Since when had she had to pull back that far to match Itoo? She must've improved more than she'd known.

With the power gap closed, the fight intensified, a test of skill.

After several exchanges, she moved in close, withdrew, and when he slashed at her midsection, she caught his blade on hers, bent, passed his swing over her head, and thrust.

He leaped back. In the moment where both his feet were off the ground, Rukia shunpoed behind him.

He blocked her swing over his back.

Rukia kicked him hard in the rump.

He hit the ground, tried to use his momentum to roll to his feet, but it was tough to roll forward when your opponent had stepped on your leg.

He ended up sprawled out, face in the dirt, and Rukia touched the tip of her blade to his back. "Yield," she said.

"I yield," Itoo agreed.

She backed away, took in the few half-mocking cheers from the watchers with a grin and sheathed her zanpakutou.

"Why aren't you seated?" Kenji complained, rubbing his bum. "It's embarrassing for a 4th seat to get kicked around by an unseated."

Rukia said, "I'm not 'an unseated.' I'm Kuchiki Rukia, slayer of Gillians."

He groaned.

Burying a smirk, Rukia heard another voice, growing closer.

The voice said, "...I could see its weight was on its front legs. I figure, if it can't dance, go right at it."

"You should still go over the back, Kurosaki-san."

"It had that crazy tail, spikes on the back of its neck, and its back legs were double-joined. I'm tellin' ya, that thing was practically made for stopping over the back."

Accompanied by Ioshima and Megumi, Ichigo came around the corner, divested of his kosode. Effectively shirtless, stripped to his skirt-like hakuma, the reiatsu suppressing necklace he'd gotten from Urahara hanging there for all to see. A long, shallow cut ran most of the way along his right pectoral muscle, already scabbed over.

She should've pretended to only vaguely remember him. That had been the idea. But seeing him bare-chested, she could help yelling, "Idiot! Cover yourself. Where's your kosode?"

"Hello to you too, Bitch. You point me at where I can get a new kosode and I'll go right over there. But it's not like there's anything wrong with this."

Nothing wrong with it? This was Soul Society, not the Human World. It was far more formal. And did he not see the way Kiyone was drinking him in with her eyes? Kiyone might be old enough to be his grandmother, but she was at about the same stage in physical maturation as Ichigo, which was all she would care about. He was practically advertising himself.

Ichigo said, "It's not like I wanted the damn Hollow to spit all over me as it passed."

Megumi said, "He smelled to high heaven. For the sake of us all, he used a public shower, but it was too late for the kosode." Megumi was giving him an admiring look as she said that. No doubt she'd been impressed by how stupidly Ichigo had attacked the Hollow.

Megumi said, "I'd say it was a level 5. We're fortunate Ichigo was with us."

"Bullshit," said Ichigo. "You and Ioshima coulda handled it without me."

A level 5? Rukia wondered. That was a tall order for those two. Aloud, she said, "And you got injured, Fool. Sit down and let me see to that."

"It's fi-"

She pressed him to the porch, and her right hand lit with aquamarine healing Kido, focused on the cut.

Kenji said, "Kuchiki-san, you know him?"

Too late to say no. "Of course. I took this idiot under my wings when he became a shinigami."

Ichigo said, "And what tiny wings they were to fit under. I spent all my time crouched."

She cuffed him on the head with one hand while continuing to heal him with the other.

The watchers silently noted how relaxed Kurosaki was with her invading his physical space, as if she'd healed him a hundred times before.

Ioshima said, "I'd better report to the Captain."

"Let's go," Kiyone said to him. A level 5 in District 18 isn't something you hear every day."

#

#

Rukia stood in the garden with Kuchiki Byakuya, looking out over the Koi ponds.

"You dispatched a Gillian," Oni-sama said.

"Yes."

"A dangerous assignment."

"There is a high density of Hollows there," Rukia agreed. "But an incursion like that is hardly typical. And Captain Ukitake is sending me help. Kurosaki-san is young, but he's talented and battle-tested. He has shikai. I can trust him to watch my back.

"Hmmm."

Rukia swallowed. "Onii-sama, I beg leave to continue the assignment. I believe I have earned that right."

Byakuya was silent.

#

#

At the end of eight days, Ichigo sat in Ukitake's backroom with Ukitake and Rukia, the three of them keeping their voices low even though the Captain had used Kido to ensure their privacy.

"It was a lot of fun," Ichigo assured them. "And I learned a lot."

Mostly just about how a Division functioned. He'd gotten in a little Kido practice, working on the few he already knew, but had mostly avoided it. At the Academy, everyone at least attempted the first 40, and wrote essays on the rest. It would look bizarre if the others saw him clearly attempting, say, Hado 7 for the first time.

Ukitake said, "When could you return?"

Ichigo said, "I only have two more weeks of school before summer vacation starts. Then I'll be free for about five weeks." Too bad he wasn't American. He'd heard their summer breaks were ridiculously long.

Ukitake said, "And after your school ends?"

Rukia said, "Ichigo, could I bring you here every other Sunday? That's a good schedule for regular check-ins."

"That's fine."

Ukitake said, "And you're sure you have everything, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Seem to." He had a full set of shinigami supplies, books and equipment, which somehow fit in a small inner pocket of his kosode.

Here he was in, Seireitei, in Soul Society, being a shinigami. He had an apartment in the barracks, an ID badge, a paycheck, and of course, a zanpakutou. All his new friends said he had a bright future in the Gotei 13. It was easy to imagine himself as a shinigami for real. Easy to forget he was human.

Easy, when he reminded himself, to imagine casting aside his human body and visiting his sisters and father once a month just like anyone else who got a good job and moved away, except he'd visit them in a gigai, and he'd never get any older.

It hadn't escaped his notice that Division 13 had no Vice-Captain, and he was already one of the stronger members of the Division. Vice-Captain Kurosaki had a ring to it. Hard not to think about that when several people had told him how much he looked like the old Vice-Captain, Vice-Captain Shiba Kaien.

Kaien, who'd been killed in battle against a Hollow, even though he'd been stronger than Ichigo was. Hard not to think about that also. But it was also hard to believe he really would die. Inductive reasoning and all that. He hadn't died yet, so why would he die later?

It wasn't long ago that he'd been horrified by the idea of fighting Hollows regularly, but now he knew he'd miss it if he stopped. Not just the feeling that he was making a difference, but the fighting itself. The adrenaline rush.

To Rukia, he said, "I'm ready to go."

They walked into the yard together, and Kiyone or sentarou must've passed the word that they were leaving, because people were calling good-bye. Mostly to Rukia, but to him too.

Ioshima said, "See you around, Kurosaki-san."

"See ya," Ichigo said."

"Don't forget Rukongai needs guarding too," Megumi yelled after him.

Ichigo waved in acknowledgment and good-bye. He'd heard the outlying districts of Rukongai were hellholes, but the farthest he'd been was District 27, which was a place he wouldn't mind living. The number of street musicians had been even more astounding than the hordes of people playing in parks.

The sheer number of people was hard to comprehend. Heavily populated Districts stretching out endlessly in all direction, a degree of urbanization that even Japan couldn't match. With most of the populace having little to no need for food, life naturally evolved that way.

Seireitei itself was a small stone at the center of a vast pebbly bleach.

They shunpoed to the official, regulated Gotei 13 senkaimon, a large empty gate manned by the Kido Corp.

Ichigo signed, gave the Kido Corp Member his badge to scan, and acted as if he hadn't been tense at all when she handed it back without a second glance.

It was a real badge, after all.

The gate activated, Japanese screens appearing, then separating to reveal bright white light.

Telling himself not to be nervous and act like it was normal for him, Ichigo stepped back through the door between dimensions.

:::

I've decided on one significant change to canon backstory. It's hinted at in this chapter.

As a more minor detail, I've also changed the timeline slightly, making all the events happen a week or two earlier. Canonically, Ichigo should've just missed finals week.

Shinigami extras in Bleach pretty reliably look to have black or dark brown hair, but if we look at the shinigami characters with more than a few lines...

Black or brown: Rukia, Byakuya, Soi Fon, Unohana, Aizen, Kyouraku, Iba, Yumichika, Omaeda, Hinamori, Isshin, Kenpachi, Hisagi, Sentaro, two of the visored, sentarou

Not black or brown: Hitsugaya, Gin, Kira, Renji, Yoruichi, Yachiru, Urahara, all but two of the Visored, Matsumoto, Isane, Kiyone, Tousen (very dark purple), Ikkaku (invisible)

I'm assuming the real proportion is more like that among significant characters.


	7. Chapter 7: Older Brother

**Ch 7: Older Brother**

Kuchiki Byakuya entered the 13th Division's Headquarters, his red-haired Vice-Captain a dutiful step back. Whispers followed the Vice-Captain. The story of their very own Kuchiki Rukia beating him had spread far and wide. From his heavy scowl, he knew it.

It was not a good day for Captain Ukitake. His run of good health had ended, and he'd spent the morning in bed, coughing, a cold compress on his head. He'd dragged himself out of bed for a recuperative lunch, then had sat his ass at his desk. Even if he wasn't up to inspections or running drills, he could still read reports and decide on assignments. That was hardly rigorous.

When Sentarou informed him of Captain Kuchiki's approach, and that Captain Kuchiki was not interested in coming back another day, he swept used tissues into the rubbish and made himself presentable, hoping he wouldn't break out into a coughing fit in front of his young colleague.

Kiyone brought in a new pot of tea just ahead of Sentarou entering with Byakuya and Abarai, and Ukitake smiled genially and said, "What can I do for you gentlemen today?"

Kuchiki bowed, greeting him politely and coldly, as he usually did, and, with an abrupt lack of small talk, proceeded directly into business.

They spoke of Division matters, and of who should have jurisdiction over South Rukongai 38 through 43. Matters that were normally decided through an exchange of letters.

As the conversation wound down, Ukitake suppressing an itch in his throat with sips of honeyed tea, Byakuya reached his real reason for coming.

Byakuya said, "I understand my younger sister continues on her previous assignment. Considering the proven dangers of the area, I trust you've provided Shinigami Kuchiki Rukia a satisfactory partner."

"Yes. Ichigo-kun. He's young, but I have high hopes for him. He has the raw ability of a seated officer, but I've held him back on account of experience and polish. He has the talent to go far, if he also has the mentality to drive him." Ukitake shrugged. "If not, perhaps he'll stagnate as an 8th or 9th seat. But given that I _haven't been allowed_ my first choice for Vice-Captain, I hope not."

Byakuya's eyes narrowed. "Considering Division 13's record with Vice-Captains, perhaps said choice should be relieved."

Ukitake stood. He was not one to be offended, but that was a low blow. "I'm not sure what you mean by that."

"I mean nothing," said Byakuya. "Please excuse me if I've offered any blow to your pride. Pride recovers. Fatal wounds do not."

"Byakuya, you have said enough." He did not reach for his zanpakutou, but part of him wanted to.

"My deepest apologies," said Byakuya. "I only wonder which subordinate will bear the weight of it if your next Vice-Captain is abandoned to die."

Kiyone gasped, and Ukitake's reiatsu rose, but he couldn't deny the justice of the accusation. He had let Kaien fight the Hollow alone for the sake of Kaien's pride, and as a result of that, Kaien had died, and Rukia had been emotionally shattered. If he had intervened, or even just allowed Rukia to do so, Kaien would've been angry in addition to grief stricken. He probably would've gotten drunk many times. He would have had emotional scars that would never have left. But that would mainly have been true even had he won without assistance. Winning with assistance, he would've lived, and he wouldn't have been permanently broken. Kaien was stronger than that. He would've emerged sad, and more motivated than ever. Division 13 would have its Vice-Captain, and both worlds would be safer for it.

Did Byakuya blame him for Rukia's long melancholy and misplaced guilt? If so, beneath all the polish and reserve, Byakuya was still the same high-strung, tempestuous creature he'd been as a boy.

Ukitake's anger drained away. "Why have you really come, Byakuya? Besides goading me to continue treating your sister as if she's made of glass."

"I have no desire for her to be treated as if she is weak. She has of late proved her strength, defeating the Grand Fisher, a level 7 Hollow, and a Gillian. House Kuchiki would not take it amiss if she were offered a position as a seated officer, though, in deference to her relative youth and lack of experience as an officer, it would be better if her position were not of single digit."

Not of single digit? Ukitake was tempted to promote Rukia to the 9th seat, simply to spite him. But as Rukia's Head of House, Byakuya could unilaterally withdraw her from the Division if he liked.

Ukitake said, "The excuse about her 'relative youth' is wearing thin. She's been in the Gotei 13 longer than several current Vice-Captains, including your own."

Byakuya left without acknowledging that point, and Ukitake finally allowed himself to break out into a long coughing fit.

#

#

Rukia wasn't sad to be back in Karakura Town. True, she would miss her rooms, at the Division and at Kuchiki Estate. True, a longer stay at the Division would've been nice. She'd had a few chances to experiment with the 'tower-sized spear' version of Hakuren, and with the Toushouga Tenshou, but not so many as she would've liked. Here, the best she could do was to spend time in Urahara's massive training basement, and not think about why a gray-trade shopkeeper had such a thing.

Yet she wasn't sad.

For starters, they could go home. They'd read manga together, and at night Ichigo would sleep on his bed, and if she liked, she'd take her place in his closet, and it would be so much cozier than their separate apartments at Division 13 Headquarters.

She wondered if she could get Kiyone to put their apartments next to each other, then wondered why she was thinking such a thing. She had bigger issues to think about than making sure she was bunked near her accomplice. Like the headache she'd decided to spare Ichigo until they returned to Karakura Town.

A little leery about actually introducing Ichigo to Afro-san, she messaged Afro-san with the news that they had arrived and he could clear out, and, looking at her phone, said, "Ichigo, Karin can see shinigami and Hollows. When you were gone, she asked me why. I explained a bit. You should talk to her."

Falling off the air was a tough trick, but Ichigo managed.

"What the hell?" he shouted, catching himself 30 feet down.

Still looking at her phone, Rukia said, "It's hardly a surprise. She's your sister. You should've seen this coming. She was pretending not to notice me for weeks."

"And you didn't tell me?"

Putting the phone away, she said, "I don't want to intrude into your family business."

"Next time tell me."

He shunpoed toward his home, and she shunpoed ahead of him, sticking out her tongue and saying, "Still too slow."

They slipped through the window finding Kon at Ichigo's desk, doing homework. It tugged on heart just a little to think that Kon might enjoy pretending to be Ichigo even to himself. A human with friends, family and a body that would never be taken away.

Then Kon had to ruin it by saying "Nee-san, you're back," and trying to hug her.

She put him in an armlock and Ichigo said, "Anything special to report?"

"Nah. Your dad's an idiot, Yuzu's sweet and Karin's surly."

"And school?"

"The Quincy is quiet, Chad is cool, Keigo's an idiot, Mizuiro is suave, Orihime is strange, and Tatsuki thinks you should join the Karate team. I aced your math test and kicked the stupid bully in the face when he wouldn't leave me alone about my hair color."

"Sound's good. Let's switch."

With the ease of practice, Ichigo got into his own body, and Kon went into the lion plushy.

Rukia followed Ichigo downstairs. Karin was in the kitchen, reading a book in the window light.

Rukia hung back, looking on from the end of the hall.

Ichigo said, "Karin."

She glanced up, said "hey," and went back to reading. She stopped. Looked up again. "Is that you, Ichi-nii?"

"To the soul," said Ichigo.

She closed the book. "Welcome home."

"It's good to be back."

"Your trip went well?"

"Yeah. I learned a lot, and I got an ID badge and everything. The Captain's cool, and I made a couple new friends."

"Shinigami, huh?" said Karin.

"Yep."

"Purifying Hollows and guiding ghosts to the next plane of existence."

"Um-hmm."

"Why?"

Ichigo said, "Because it needs doing and I can do it."

Karin said, "You think I'll do it too someday?"

"Maybe. After you grow up, get married, have kids, go gray, and die in your sleep surrounded by 11 grandkids. Living people don't normally do it."

"You do."

Ichigo shrugged. His circumstances weren't exactly replicable. "Tell ya what. If you get shinigami powers too, you can do it too."

"Pinky swear?" said Karin.

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo said, "Pinky swear."

As they hooked pinky fingers, Yuzu came in, midway through eating a purple popsicle.

Swallowing, Yuzu said, "What going on?"

Before Ichigo could say it was nothing, Karin offhandedly said, "Ichi-nii is doing ghost stuff with a samurai ghost lady. If you learn to see them, they'll tell you more, but just a warning, samurai ghost lady is harder to see than normal ghosts, and you can't even see those."

"Yes I can," said Yuzu. "They're blurry, but I'm getting better. They're getting clearer all the time."

Rukia hissed. Her and Ichigo's combined reiatsu was affecting Yuzu. How couldn't it? The girl had been sensitive in the first place, so they had probably only sped up her timeline, but still. Time for another trip to Urahara's.

The bell rang when Rukia and Ichigo entered the shop, and no one looked up. Urahara was at the front of the shop, refereeing a game between Ururu and Jinta.

"It's snake," said Jinta.

Ururu said, "Double crunch is half-helix."

"It's snake," said Jinta, "look at it."

"Double crunch is half helix," said Ururu again.

Jinta noogied her braids.

Urahara rapped Jinta's knuckles with his fan. "It is double-crunch, Jinta-kun. See." He touched two tiles. "For half helix, you get a point, but you called it wrong so Ururu steals. One point to Ururu, and it's Ururu's turn."  
Moving a tile, Ururu said, "Half-helix is snake, Ururu wins three points, goes again." She moved a tile, and set four tiles on the board. "Ururu spends four points. Ururu claims the Trick 'full-helix.'"

"Arggh!" said Jinta.

Rukia said, "Excuse me."

Urahara said, "Patience, Honored Customer. This is an important moment for Jinta-kun. If he doesn't turn it around here, he'll have to clean the shop for a week."

"But-"

"Patience, Honored Customer."

Jinta said, "Jinta spends one point," and removed two tiles from the board. "Jinta completes two Tricks, 'the circle.'"

Ururu said, "Those are ovals."

Urahara said, "Ovals aren't Tricks and aren't worth any points, Jinta-kun."

"Arggh!"

Urahara raised Ururu's right arm. "Ururu wins again!"

"Yay," said Ururu, flat and expressionless.

Urahara handed Jinta a broom.

Rukia and Ichigo stepped farther into the shop as Jinta glumly marched out onto the stoop, bearing the broom.

Rukia said, "I'm interested in that reiatsu suppression bracelet and necklace set Ichigo got. I might want my own set.

Urahara burst into animation. "Excellent choice, Honored Customer. They suppress reiatsu by 60% while only decreasing power by 10%. And you can turn it off with single twist. Far better than the Gotei 13's limiters, right?" He opened a cabinet, exposing white cloth. "And look at this line of undershirts and longjohns. The fabric catches reiatsu and breaks it into fundamental spirit particles, reducing apparent reiatsu by nearly 25% percent with no loss to power whatsoever."

Rukia said, "Why aren't they standard issue?" If they worked like Urahara claimed, they wouldn't just help keep high seats from influencing humans. They'd help everyone sneak up on Hollows more easily. They'd keep shinigami alive.

Urahara shrugged. "You know how government contracts are. If you don't have a history of producing at scale, they're not interested. But when you return to Seireitei, spread the word. Urahara Kisuke still has the best gear, and buying from him is not illegal, only suspicious!"

"I'll be sure to tell them," said Rukia.

Urahara added, "The Head of the Onmitsukido may hate my guts, but she doesn't actually have an arrest order for me. Buying from me is totally safe!"

"I'll pass that on," said Rukia.

"Before I was exiled, The Captain-Commander described me as, 'not really that annoying when out of earshot.'"

"Quite the endorsement," Rukia said.

She got the necklace and bracelet set for herself, and bought her reiatsu suppressing undershirt and longjohns, leaving Ichigo to buy his own. He had a paycheck, and commissions for a couple Hollows. Time for him to make his own purchases.

When they'd paid, Rukia said, "And we'd like to use your basement again."

"The basement is currently unavailable."

"Why?" she asked.

"Tessai-san's nudist hot tub parties. Don't judge, it's his passion. Come back tomorrow and it will all be cleaned up. And from now on, I expect you to pay rent for the room. 40 kan per hour."

"40 kan? You're joking. Eight at most."

"With all the damage you and Kurosaki will do, eight kan would have me working an hour for a grain of rice. I'll need 35 at least just to look myself in the mirror and not call myself a bum."

"Fine. 30."

"Is there somewhere else around here you plan to train? 32."

"32," she agreed. So this was where a lot of the money from purifying that Gillian would go.

"And you have to reserve at least a day ahead."

"If we have to reserve ahead, 25."  
"30."

"28."

"Deal."

#

#

When the two shinigami had left, Urahara left the store to Jinta and stepped down into his training basement.

Tessai was standing, Sado-kun, Orihime and Tatsuki kneeling in a semi-circle around him, the three humans straining against the low level Bakudo Tessai had cast weakly on them.

"Well?"

Tessai said, "Manager-dono, Sado-dono has broken it four times. Orihime-dono has broken it twice. Tatsuki-dono is on her first.

"Hmm." He walked forward. Orihime's hairclips were glittering in an interesting manner. Chad's right arm was bulging, spiritual energy gathered around it. Even as Urahara watched, he broke the Bakudo again, and Tessai re-cast it at a slightly higher level.

Tatsuki had her eyes shut and was trying so hard tears were leaking out from beneath her lids.

Tessai said, "They can all surely see shinigami and Hollows now.

Urahara said, "Good. Tatsuki-chan, that's enough for today."

"I can do it!" she protested.

Urahara motioned, and Tessai released the Bakudo.

"Cast it on me again," she said.

"Tatsuki-chan. You're an athlete. You know it's not good to push yourself too hard at once. You can try again tomorrow."

"But I can do more today!"

A corner of his mouth curving up, Urahara pushed her out of her body with the end of his cane. A typical Plus, soul chain still connecting her to her body.

"I, what?" She looked at her body, looked at herself, and slapped her chest. "Am I a ghost?"

Urahara said, "As long as the chain is whole, we can put you back in no trouble. Pick up your body."

Tatsuki went to it, slipped her arm under its shoulders, heaved, and might as well have tried to lift a truck.

Urahara said, "Just an arm."

Lifting with her legs, muscles straining, Tatsuki lifted her body's arm.

"Good. Do push-ups, sit-ups, and stretches, still in your spirit form. Eat well tonight, and sleep extra."

When the kids had left, Urahara sighed. There were substantial and unusual powers buried in Sado and Orihime, but the going was slow. A life threatening situation might do the trick, but Urahara didn't want to provide that himself, and Kuchiki-san had too competently dealt with those that had been occurring naturally.

Tatsuki-chan had less talent, at least superficially, but she understood better than the others, better than many experienced shinigami, what it meant to truly work hard, to strive for strength, to master a martial discipline. And unlike Sado and Orihime, she didn't need a reason. Show her a mountain and she would climb the mountain because it was there.

He could think on that while he and Tessai built the hot tubs.

#

#

It was good to be back at school. To see Sado, Tatsuki and the two idiots. Even the ones he didn't know so well, like Orihime.

But even walking up the steps, he couldn't help but think he'd rather be learning Kido, or reviewing one of the books Captain Ukitake had given him.

His entrance to the classroom didn't cause a stir, and Keigo greeted him the same way as ever, so apparently Kon hadn't done too bad of a job.

One pair of eyes bored into the back of his head, though. Ishida, watching him with a mixture of hatred and shame. Ichigo decided to ignore it until later and opened his notebook. Kon had taken passable notes in a good imitation of his handwriting.

Tatsuki said, "Do anything this weekend?"

"Not really. You?"

"Nah. Haven't seen you much lately."

"You see me at school."

She shrugged.

He probably had been neglecting his friends. Too busy doing shinigami stuff. He should make an effort to correct that at least a little. "I've got stuff to do this afternoon and evening, but wanna hit the arcade tomorrow after you're done with Karate?"

Tatsuki said, "I've got an appointment. What about the day after tomorrow?"

"That should be good." He didn't bother inviting the others. Chad was too broke. Inviting him would be just be rude. Mizuiro and Keigo would invite themselves. And Orihime was way more Tatsuki's friend than his.

Tatsuki said, "Do you keep in contact with Kuchiki-san?"

Ichigo's first thought was to lie, but that might complicate things if, for example, Rukia ever got back into a gigai. "A bit. Calling mostly." After a moment, he added, "She doesn't live that far away."

Tatsuki said, "You should invite her, if it's not too much trouble."

"Will do," said Ichigo.

#

#

Dressed in the athletic clothing she wore to play soccer in the park, Karin said, "Hat'n'Clogs. What are the hot tubs for?"

"Relaxation and backpain."

"No, really."

"An alibi."

"Something to do with Ichi-nii and Ghost Lady?"

"Possibly."

"What are we doing today? More Bakudo breaking? The control exercise with that orb?"

"Later. For starters, I thought we'd try something different." It wasn't by whim that he'd decided to separate her training from the others'. Karin was different. He was tempted to expel her body, snap her Soul Chain, throw her down the shattered shaft, and challenge her to become a shinigami before becoming a Hollow. He'd even give her advice on how to do it. But Isshin had made him promise to 'teach her like a normal person would,' so that was out.

From behind his back, he pulled a small katana. A little long for Karin, but his selection was limited. It wasn't just any katana, but an asauchi. A sort of blank zanpakutou that shinigami used to try to call out their own true zanpakutou.

Urahara said, "Today, we're doing Kendo practice."

#

#

When Rukia saw the hot tubs, she face-palmed. She'd thought Urahara was joking when he'd used the concept of 'Tessai-san's nudist hot tub parties' as a reason for why they could only use the training basement by appointment.

But there they were, ten large hot tubs not far from the entrance to the basement. She didn't want to imagine what went on in them.

She shunpoed past them, Ichigo right behind her.

Turning, she shouted to Urahara at the entrance. "Privacy please! We'll settle up when we're done!"

Urahara shouted, "I put an antenna in so your phone will still get alerts. Don't destroy the antenna. It's right here!" He pointed to a silvery antenna right by the stairs.

Rukia gulped. She should've thought of that. If the barriers were thick enough to hide their reiatsu, of course they would block signals from Soul Society. Good thing Urahara had thought of that. "Okay!"

They spent the first 30 minutes on Kido practice, Ichigo making only a little headway. There was a lot more to it than just memorizing incantations and picturing what you wanted. Spiritual energy had to be manipulated in ways that were better described by geometric forms or origami than by words.

Stretching out a hand, Ichigo attempted Hado Number 4, Byakurai with the full incantation.

Bluish-white Kido energy exploded at the tips of his fingers. Ichigo cursed, but Rukia was pleased. It was definitely Kido energy he was using, instead of just an explosion of reiatsu.

Rukia said, "We'll do more theory work at home. Let's see that shikai." Mostly, in their practice times prior to Ichigo taking the trip to Soul Society, Rukia had worked with him on zanjutsu basics, so it was only the second time they'd face each other shikai to shikai.

Ichigo called up the dual-wield form, which he seemed to like more.

Rukia said, "You have any idea of how to use two blades at once?"

"Captain Ukitake gave me a few pointers, but I'll have to learn the rest through experience."

"Then I'll beat it into your bones," Rukia said. She dashed forward. This wouldn't be like their instructional spars of before. He'd joined the Gotei 13. It was time to stop coddling him.

She shunpoed behind him and stabbed at his back.

Eyes wide, reiatsu flaring, he reacted just in time to bat her blade aside. Not all the way aside. She drew a line of blood along his arm.

She backstepped, his blades whirled by too fast, overextending him, and she lunged. His whirl was too fast.

He caught the strike on the corner of Shiro-chan, and she shunpoed away.

His blades were so long it was hard to go in and out. Against a long blade, she would normally want to move in close and steal his leverage, but he had two blades, so that was dangerous.

But she'd been a shinigami for forty years. Ichigo had been doing it for little over two months.

She moved in, aggressive, pushing his swings aside, forcing his own blades against each other, marking his chest, arms and cheeks with the tip of her zanpakutou, Ichigo backpedaling, trying to get his blades sorted out, trying to get his feet under him.

Rukia said, "You're fighting like you're afraid of cutting me!"

"I don't want to cut you."

She stepped back, let him get separation, saying "Why not? I'm enjoying cutting you. Take off those suppressors and fight me like I'm your enemy. Right now, that's how I'm thinking of you."

With a squeeze of the necklace, Ichigo stopped it and the bracelets working, and his reiatsu rose, spiritual pressure rising high.

She came in behind a thrust. Shiro-chan turned it, and Kuro-Ossan came for her head.

She raised her arm to block.

Kuro-Ossan hit her arm hard, and there was no blood. No cut. Not a single thread of her sleeves cut.

Rukia met his wide eyes and said, "Your blade is dull."

She kicked him hard in the stomach, far harder than she'd kicked Itoo-san, throwing him through the air. When he crashed against a boulder, the boulder cracked.

"Do you think this is a polite spar in the yard with shinai? You are fighting Kuchiki Rukia in shikai. Be sharp, or I won't take responsibility for what happens."

She shunpoed to Ichigo, blade swinging down.

Ichigo raised Shiro-chan to block, and Rukia pushed straight through his guard, leaving a long gash down his chest, blood streaming.

Ichigo screamed, and she danced away as Kuro-Ossan swept toward her.

Rukia yelled, "You understand, Ichigo! A blade swung with one hand is half as strong, and you are not twice as strong as me. You cannot _block_ my two-handed strike with a single hand of your own. You must parry, deflect, evade, and strike with your other blade while I'm extended."

"You sliced me open!" he shouted.

"Don't be such a baby. I barely notched your bones. Now fight me seriously, or I'll kill you by accident."

The white wrapping of Kuro-Ossan grew, moved like a snake, and wrapped around the long gash, halting the bleeding.

She attacked again, and he dodged. Again, and he dodged, not running, but almost, a betrayed and fearful look in his eyes.

Rukia paraphrased old words that every shinigami had heard, that every shinigami knew, that she had had beaten into her own bones.

"Ichigo, your blades speak only of fear. When you counter, it's because you fear being cut. When you protect someone, you fear you could let them die. When you attack, you fear killing.

"Pathetic, Ichigo! Fear is not what you need. Nothing will come of it. When you counter, you don't let them cut you. When you protect someone, you don't let them die. And when you attack, you kill."

Ichigo stopped. Adjusted his stance so his weight was a little more forward. A frisson ran between him and his zanpakutous. His reiatsu rose, and more than that changed. Not exactly killing intent, but for the first time he was facing her with genuine aggression.

Rukia raised her own reiatsu in response, surprised again at how high it went. In the air around her blade, water vapor crystallized and fell.

She charged.

Kuro-Ossan made a single, downward chop, and compressed blue reiatsu shot out of the black zanpakutou like a long blade, carving a deep straight gash in the ground.

Rukia took the strike on her own zanpakutou, laughing as it threw her through the air. Renji's Zabimaru hadn't hit that hard, and Renji was a Vice-Captain.

Escaping its path, piercing the ground, Rukia said. "Good! Whatever that was, do it again! Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren!"

As the pillar of ice raced toward him, Ichigo roared, and a torrent of blue reiatsu shot out of Kuro-Ossan, meeting the pillar head on.

The attacks warred, and ice won.

But not completely. Rather than bound in a pillar of ice, Ichigo was covered in a drift of snow.

Snowy-haired, he popped out of the snow just in time to see her attack from on high.

He crossed his blades in front of him, blocking Sode no Shirayuki in the center of the X they made.

Her legs crashed into his stomach, pile driving him into the edge of the drift, Ichigo umphing as he was laid out in the soft layer of snow, Rukia standing on his stomach and pushing down hard on Zangetsus with Sode no Shirayuki.

"Stop stepping on me, Bitch," he gasped out.

"Make me," she grinned, cold spreading up his blades, ice-crystals forming on their length.

He answered with a savage grin of his own, reiatsu rising even higher as he forced Shirayuki up.

 _"Beep-da-beep-dee-beep-da-beep."_ Went Ichigo's phone.

" _Afraid, but you will not run. Alone, thy will be done. Confessed, but you still feel the-"_ sang Rukia's phone, until she silenced it. "Hollow," she said, checking it. "I'll take care of it. You stay here and try and do that attack again."

"What the hell's that ringtone?" said Ichigo.

Rukia shunpoed away without answering. She had to get to the Hollow quickly, after all.

#

#

The Hollow was weak. Too bad. That meant the bounty was low and she'd take a loss on the day after adding up purchases and the room fee.

She returned to the training basement, readying her explanation about how all the Sinead O'Connor music she'd recently downloaded on her phone was simply cultural research on humans.

What she saw when she entered the training basement blew the idea out of her head. Radiating from Ichigo as if he were the center of clock were massive gashes in the landscape, nearly canyons, each looking as if the force that had created it could've been the end of a Menos Grande.

Without turning to look at her, Ichigo said, "Rukia, watch this!"

Kuro-Ossan rose, and as Kuro-Ossan fell, Ichigo shouted, "Getsuga Tenshou!"

Condensed reiatsu roared out of Kuro-Ossan, shearing another small canyon into the landscape.

For the amount of damage they were doing, 28 kan an hour was a steal. She should probably leave a tip.

"Do it again," she said.

He built another canyon. The attack reminded her slightly of the Quincy's arrows, but it was 100% shinigami energy, and the Quincy's arrows hadn't been a hundredth of the size, if that.

More than that though... "Getsuga Tenshou?" Rukia said.

"That's its name."

"You remember what the second attack I used against the Gillian was called?"

"No. Cool attack though."

"It's called Toushou _ga Tenshou_. And it looks a little similar. Watch."

She steadied herself and thought of cold, thought of the essence of the biting winter wind refined to light.

"Toushougo _Tenshou_!" The cold reiatsu slicked off her blade and hit the ground almost where she'd aimed. There was cracking popping, and rime formed on a 10 foot wide circle of ground as the water vapor above the ground flash-freezed and fell as ice.

Ichigo looked meaningfully from her circle of frozen ground to the canyons he'd blasted into the landscape.

"Step on it," she said.

Humoring her, he stepped forward and stuck one foot in the advancing circle of rime covered ground.

For a quarter second, he was casual. Then his eyes widened and he leaped away cursing "Holy shit. Ow." He touched his sandal, but retracted his hand a moment later, shaking his fingertips. The sandal broke, and Ichigo rubbed his foot.

"Not so flashy," Rukia said, "But would you like to be hit with it?"

"Hell no. I'd die."

"That's the idea. But Ichigo. This attack doesn't just have a similar name. It even looks like your attack. I could even say it's an 'ice version' of it."

Ichigo shrugged. "That's not out of place. Purple eyes. Always knowing where the other person is. Mysteriously knowing when the other person is fighting. It fits. It doesn't take a genius to see we got tangled up."

Rukia sighed. "I've been trying not to think about this. Right now, it's not bad. It's good even. It helps. But it's getting stronger. Before, I only felt you when you were fighting. Now, I always have an idea of what you're doing. I can almost see it if I try. If it keeps getting stronger, there could be serious side-effects. We could both go insane, or worse. And even how it is now, there could be problems. For example, if you get married, I don't want to experience what sex with her is like from your end, and I assume you feel the same way."

Ichigo said, "That is disgusting."

"That's plausible reality."

Ichigo said, "Are you into guys or girls?"

"Guys," she said.

"Definitely disgusting then."

"Fool!" She kicked him. "That line was Keigo-worthy."

He wanted to yell back, but she was right. That was Keigo-worthy. "I was trying to lighten the mood."

"Don't. That's not like you. Just scowl."

He nodded.

"Scowl, I said!"

"I'm scowling!"

"No you're not. Be more upset!"

Ichigo said, "Don't tell me what facial expressions to have, Bitch."

"See, that's better. You're scowling."

"Bitch, me being angry makes you happy?"

Rukia said, "Duh. I thought that was obvious. Why do you think I piss you off all the time?

He tugged on his hair and they fell into silence. Stress may have been relieved, but they still had a problem.

"Jinzen?" said Ichigo.

"I've performed Jinzen many times. Sode no Shirayuki has been evasive on the subject."

"What if we jinzened together?"

"Fool, Jinzen is a noun, not a verb. You don't 'jinzen together,' you 'perform Jinzen together."

Ichigo said, "I'll verb any noun I like, thanks very much."

Rukia flicked his forehead. "You're a menace to the language."

Turning serious, Ichigo said, "Are you done playing? We should do this, and not procrastinate any longer."

Rukia sat cross-legged on the ground, putting her zanpakutou across her thighs as Ichigo did the same. Knees touching his, Rukia took his hands, and together, they entered their respective inner worlds.

:::

I have no idea what game Ururu and Jinta are playing or why I included it.

I know Byakuya talks about pride a lot, but I don't think that this is really out of character for him.

Reminder that Kon wasn't such an idiot before being a (hopefully) funny idiot became his only role.


	8. Chapter 8: The Sexual Metaphor

**Ch 8: Sexual Metaphor**

Rukia's inner world was a festival in winter. Pure white snow covered the ground and the fir trees around it. The starlight and moon were achingly bright even against the the lights of the stalls. The offerings of the stalls filled the air with mouth watering scents. Pork buns. Hot soup. Okonomiyaki. Takoyaki. Festival foods. She had eaten of her own self many times and found it delicious. And more than food. There were games like goldfish scooping, ring toss and senbonhiki. Shops selling masks, plushies, and ceramics.

All the stall were empty but one. Usually the same one, thought it was never in the same spot.

Rukia took two cups of hot tea from a tea stall and went looking for ice sculptures.

It did not take her long to find Shirayuki's stall. These days, it hardly ever did. She followed the chill, the cold, the moonlight, the desire to dance, and found the stall with ice sculptures for sale.

An ice sculpture of a dragon. Of a tiger shaking itself dry, fur ruffled as it did. An abstract series of curves, circles and spikes.

Behind them, Sode no Shirayuki herself.

Sode no Shirayuki was beautiful, but if she materialized in Soul Society, no one would mistake her for anything but a zanpakutou.

She was pure white. Not the white of pale skin, but the glimmering white of packed snow. Her eyes were dark as the space between stars. Though always a beautiful woman, she shifted form with every movement, a woman of a thousand faces. Of late, she'd developed an antler.

And she was outlined in wings, like a fully-body halo. Not the wings of a bird. More like a bat ray's, or a jellyfish's, or some other aquatic creature with winglike fins. And the wings weren't solid. They were a mesh of snowflakes, always softly billowing, moving, sticking off her side, arms, head, legs, torso everywhere.

Rukia knew from experience that the wings were tough as chainmail but soft as silk, and Shirayuki could float around with them, like a snowy human jellyfish.

Overall, the impression was of a breathtakingly beautiful art piece.

Rukia sat on the seat before the stall, placing one cup of hot tea before Shirayuki. Rukia said, "We need to talk."

"Rukia-sama."

"I need to know what happened with you, me, Ichigo and Zangetsus."

"I am your zanpakutou, not an omniscient God."

"I don't expect you to know everything. Just tell me how it was."

"I don't know how it was just because I was there. You were too. But I will tell what I think." Shirayuki raised the tea cup and drank. The tea froze as it flowed through her. As it always did.

Placing the empty cup between two sculptures, Shirayuki said, "To Coldness, heat is not the enemy, but the object of its affections. It wants it. Desires it. When it finds it, it takes it for itself."

Rukia said nothing. She knew all that. Had learned it decades ago.

"You are my source of heat, as I am yours of cold. But not so long ago, you placed me in a strange blue place. Sideways. It was not you. It did not fit me. But there was heat. As ever, I took, and I gave. I was not happy, but I could be content, because part of me was still with you, and I knew I would be away only for a time. I would return home, and it would only have been an interesting holiday.

"Slowly, I became aware of another. Watching me from distance with suspicion. His name was Zangetsu. He called it out again and again to Ichigo, and buried me in the depths of the world, lest Ichigo hear my voice instead.

"In the depths of the world, in the depths of Ichigo's soul, I found one in the process of becoming. The one you call Shiro-chan. Vicious, enthusiastic and loving. Like a wolf puppy, and he was Zangetsu too. The more I spoke with him, the realer he became, and the black one could do nothing but watch and worry.

"And then the day came when the blue world trembled. The black one was subsumed into the white one, and the white one and I rose high.

"What you and Ichigo were doing... It was only natural for us to do it too."

Rukia sighed. She did not want to picture that, but she also couldn't help puzzling out how Shirayuki had gone about having sex with Shiro-chan Zangetsu. Did she even have the right equipment?

Shirayuki said, "The four of us moved into alignment, and I could feel you calling me home. Shiro-chan and I rose higher and higher into the sky. Even as Shiro-chan and I embraced, I felt myself becoming more and more with you.

"At the climax, there was perfect harmony of purpose between Ichigo and the white one, and the white one screamed his own name. Finally, Ichigo heard him, and said the name himself.

"With Ichigo coming into his own powers, I began to be ejected. I knew I would finally return to you, and I was happy, yet I was filled with sorrow. Shiro-chan tried to hold on, and, though I too felt his pain, I knew I could not remain, so I punched him in the neck. Hard.

"Slowly, we separated, nevermore to meet.

"As our fingertips brushed for the final time, something saw. I don't know what. Black as the rainbow's end. It smiled, and it said we did not have to part truly.

"When first I found myself back home, I thought little of that. I was sad to leave, yet happier to be back. Yet slowly I noticed that I was different, subtly changed. And I could still feel the blue world, like a rock beneath my sandal. And I could feel the Zangetsus, black and white both. Slowly, I am feeling them more. Slowly, I am discovering how I have changed."

Rukia said, "Go back to the 'black as the rainbow's end' thing. What's that?"  
"No idea. I only felt its presence and intent."

"And its intent was?"

"To see that Shiro-chan and I would not be so cruelly parted."

Rukia said, "Where did it come form?"

"I know not."

Several more questions gave no information about the black creature, and Rukia moved to a different topic.

Rukia said, "Has the inner world changed at all?"

For explanation, Shirayuki said, "Come," and stepped out of her stall.

Rukia followed Shirayuki out of the vast festival, into the snowy forest that surrounded it, a walk that would've been long if not for shunpo. Most of her inner world was the festival, the area around it simply a border.

They slid down a snowy hill not far form the edge of her inner world, and the landscape changed. Snow piled in square drifts like three-story buildings. The night sky turned deepest blue, but was no less dark for it, the stars and moon shining as brilliantly as before. The edge of the path had a sheer curb of ice. All strange things that she had never seen before.

At the very edge of her inner world was refraction. Beyond it, a landscape much like what she presently in, only without the building like snow drifts or the profound dark blue sky. Rukia knew that if she stepped into the refraction, she would find herself on the opposite side of her inner world, walking toward the center.

Sticking out of the refraction was an absolute void, a tunnel of blackness radiating neither heat nor cold nor wind nor sound. Only one thing came out of it: Ichigo's reiatsu.

"I have found this," Shirayuki said. "I cannot yet cross it, but perhaps together we can."

"Are you joking? Only a fool would willingly walk into the gaping void in her own inner being."

Black and White at his sides, Kurosaki Ichigo walked out of the gaping void in Kuchiki Rukia's soul, into her inner world.

"You idiot!" Rukia screamed.

#  
#

"Idiot, Idiot, Idiot."

"Stop hitting me," Ichigo said, covering his head.

Continuing to slap at him, Rukia said, "You found a hole in your own inner world and you thought, 'Sure, I'll just mosey on through?!' You're lucky you're not dead."

"I'm fine though."

"Walking carelessly, ignorantly, into absolute darkness."

"It wasn't absolute darkness. Kuro-Ossan, show her."

Wordlessly, Kuro-Ossan raised his black blade. Bright blue reiatsu spread along it, like the lead up to Getsuga Tenshou, casting light on the snow.

Rukia said, "So what did you see?"

"Nothing, actually. Just more darkness. But if there'd been something, we woulda seen it."

She slapped his head again.

Stepping forward, Sode no Shirayuki said, "Shiro-chan. I thought I'd never see you again."

Shiro-chan shrugged. "Just came right through the gaping Sexual Metaphor there, and here we are. Let's find someplace private and we can make some more sexual metaphors of our own."

Pulling him close, snowflake wings flapping around him, Sode no Shirayuki said, "You're so romantic."

"That is not romantic," Rukia said.

Ichigo pointed to the ground next to himself and said, "Shiro-chan, here, now."

"But-"

"Now."

"No fair."

Ichigo said, "Kuro-Ossan?"

Kuro-Ossan pointed to the same spot Ichigo was pointing to.

"Fine," Shiro-chan growled, and he stomped to it and stood there, alternating between fuming at Ichigo and making duck face at Shirayuki.

Deciding she had bigger problems that her zankaputou's surreally horrible taste in men, Rukia said, "What do your zanpakutous know about us getting mixed up with each other?"

Kuro-Ossan said, "I do not understand it, but we all gained more than we gave."

Rukia said, "Shirayuki mentioned something black as the rainbow's end that partially caused it."

Shiro-chan said, "Didn't see nothing. Was focused on Yuki-chan at the time." Voice deepening, he said, "I'm always focusing on Yuki-chan."

If Shirayuki had had any pigment, she would've blushed.

Kuro-Ossan said, "At the time, I was subsumed. However, I did feel a presence brush against us and open what was closed."

Rukia pointed to the void. "And this connection?"

Kuro-Ossan said, "I believe it has grown."  
"It has," Shirayuki said. "At first, it was large enough only to occlude the moon. But over the last week, it has not grown more. I believe it has reached maturity in that sense."

Ichigo said, "So, no one's in my inner world right now. Is that fine? Is that safe for my shinigami form?"

Rukia's eyes widened. "Ichigo, go back to it right now!"

Ichigo took a short cut. Rather than returning through the tunnel, he just exited Jinzen.

#

When Ichigo opened his eyes, he could see himself, which wasn't odd. He was used to that. Only always before, it was his human body he was looking at, not his spiritual form.

He looked down. No mistaking it. Rukia was pretty flat chested, but she did have boobs. And at present, so did he.

Rukia opened her eyes. Stared at Ichigo. Stared at her large hands. Plucked an orange hair off her head and stared at it. "You Idiot!"

"It's not my fault!"  
Rukia said, "Enter Jinzen again, and this time you don't exit Jinzen until you're back in your own damn inner world!"

#

#

Entering Jinzen, Rukia emerged into a bare cityscape of blue skyscrapers. A little boring, but unremarkable, except for one aspect.

"It's sideways." She was standing on a wall. The ground was behind her and the sky was ahead of her.

"As I said," said Shirayuki.

"Why the hell is it sideways? What's wrong with him? What even happens if I step off the wall of the building and don't catch myself on another? Do I just keep falling until I've gone all the way back around?"

"I always caught myself on a building," Shirayuki said. "But it is pleasant to fall."

"Whatever. We just need to find the connection between Ichigo's Sou- Need to find the Special Hole-" She needed to find a term that could not be in any way suggestive. "The Soul Tunnel."

Shirayuki said, "Shiro-chan called it 'the sexual metaphor.'"

"It's a Soul Tunnel!"

#

#

Ichigo knew he should be looking for the Rukia Entranc- the Cosmic Connectio- The Nether Regio- The Soul Tunnel. Yeah, the Soul Tunnel. He should be looking for the Soul Tunnel, but Rukia's Inner World was a festival. A very large and very empty festival with actual food.

Ichigo said, "Why the hell is our Inner World so lame?"

No one answered. Shiro-chan and Kuro-Ossan had been next to him a moment ago, but they'd disappeared while he'd been searching for names that were neither romantically nor sexually suggestive. Par for the course from Shiro-chan, but surprising from the responsible Kuro-Ossan.

Splashing caught his ear, and he ran to the sound. He found Shiro-chan on his knees at the goldfish scoop, but instead of using the scooper to try to get the goldfish, he was using his hands, splashing water all over himself and the snow.

Shiro-chan caught the goldfish and put it in his mouth.

Ichigo tackled him, yelling, "Shiro-chan. You're eating part of Rukia's inner world! Do you know what that could do to yourself? Or what it could do to her? What if you eat something important?"

Frightened, Shiro-chan pushed himself up, leaned over the goldfish pool, and coughed.

Nothing came out.

Shiro-chan coughed again. Again. A great coughing hack as Ichigo slapped him hard on the back.

The goldfish popped out his mouth and landed in the pool, belly up, unmoving.

Ichigo and Shiro-chan waited, unmoving.

A fin moved. Another. The goldfish righted itself and swam off, Ichigo and Shiro-chan breathing out simultaneous sighs of relief.

A deep and responsible voice said, "Ichigo, you should try the takoyaki."

Ichigo turned to see Kuro-Ossan. A mask was stuck to the side of his head, a stick of dango poked out of his mouth, and he held a half-eaten pork bun and a mug of steaming tea.

Even as Ichigo watched, he took another bite of the pork bun.

It was worse than when Yuzu and Karin had been three.

#

Ichigo was looking at a booth of intricate ice sculptures when a voice said, "Your inner world seems fine, in case you were wondering."

Shit. Rukia. With Shirayuki at her side. He should've been at the Soul Tunnel a long time ago. He said, "Easy place to get lost in."

Rukia said, "Why is your inner world sideways?"

Ichigo faced away, turning slightly red. "Is that not normal?"

"It isn't."

"Festivals probably aren't normal either."

"Everyone loves festivals. They don't love being sideways."

"Yuki-chan!" a voice shouted, and Shiro-chan ran up to them.

Shiro-chan said, "Hey, can I eat the food like Kuro-bastard did?"

Ichigo explained, "Kuro-Ossan ate some of the food before I could stop him.

"Okay," said Rukia.

"That doesn't bother you?"

Rukia said, "I eat the food all the time."

"But it's part of you, so it's not going anywhere."

Shirayuki said, "The food is merely a natural outflow. It contains meaning, but the meaning will not be lost if the food is eaten, only accessed. Shiro-chan, eat as much as you like."

With a grateful holler, Shiro-chan ran back to the goldfish pond, Shirayuki pursuing, leaving Ichigo to stand uncomfortably alongside Rukia.

She said, "Shall we explore the festival? It's never had anyone but me and Yuki in it before."

He grunted.

"What's the problem?"

"Playing the games is fine, but it doesn't seem right to eat you."

Rukia said, "Ichigo, it's fine. You can eat me whenever you want."

"Ya sure?"

Taking his hand, she said, "The best takoyaki stall is right over there. I'll show you."

:::

I believe that in a literal sense, the rainbow's end is the sun, which is white, but I mean the rainbow's end as in 'after the death of color.' Or, 'if color collapsed into nothingness, the absence of color then would be a blackness more profound than the blackness in a world of color.' Also, inversely, 'the combination of all colors' which, if you're talking pigment, is black. See XKCD 1944.

The second most important character in the series has the 'makes people more powerful' McGuffin _hidden in her soul_ and nothing happens? Lost opportunity.

I usually don't love sexual innuendo, but there's loads here.

My car's been stalling when it idles. I've changed the sparkplugs and the fuel filter and that didn't fix it. I'm thinking it's probably the fuel pump relay.

I'm aware that we saw Sode no Shirayuki in the anime, but that was non-canon filler and I didn't watch it, so I can make her look however I want.


	9. Chapter 9: Waltz

**Ch 9: Waltz**

They sat in their own spiritual bodies in Urahara Kisuke's training basement, facing each other and not speaking.

Ichigo felt a little odd about eating the food in Rukia's inner world. He'd seen a red-haired boy, and a black-haired man who looked a lot like Ichigo. A huge house that she called home but hated to visit. He'd heard the tinkling of bells and remembered desperately eating an under cooked rice ball and being suffused with satisfaction. He'd remembered dancing with her zanpakutou on a training ground in the woods beneath the light of the crescent moon, the fluttering white ribbon at the end of her Sode no Shirayuki his only partner.

Not his. Her. Rukia's memories. To have seen them was incredibly intimate. In the winter festival, it had felt natural to be so intimate, but out of their inner worlds it embarrassed him.

Ichigo said, "I want to perform Jinzen one more time."

Rukia looked at her phone. "We can do Jinzen anywhere. Every moment we're here costs money."

"Just a little bit longer," said Ichigo. "I don't know if I can do it if I wait."

Rukia looked at him quizzically. "A little longer."

Ichigo closed his eyes.

He opened his eyes amid sideways blue skyscrapers. Shiro-chan stood before him. On his left cheek were two black lip marks. Ichigo didn't know how Shirayuki had caused them, but he thought they might be permanent, and that Rukia's zanpakutou had marked one of his made him uncomfortable and a little pleased, which made him more comfortable.

Kuro-Ossan was holding an abstract ice sculpture and a small potted bonsai tree, the red demon mask still strapped to the side of his head. He'd seemed deeply pleased by the acquisition of all of them. Rukia had said it was fine, but Ichigo couldn't help thinking she'd been influenced by the fey mood of the festival.

Regardless, there had to be something nice in his world to give in return.

Zanpakutous following, he circled a building, looking for a door, and found none. Another blue skyscraper had a door, but didn't open. Kuro-Ossan warned him that it was a fake door, a mere facade.

Kuro-Ossan said, "None of the doors open. There is a ledge I hide under when it rains."

Ichigo said, "That's where you're gonna put the ice sculpture and the bonsai tree?"

"Ah."

There had to be a way into the buildings. It was his inner world.

He tried a second door, and a third, but as Kuro-Ossan had said, they weren't actually doors, just images of doors, and trying to open them put him sideways to the world's gravity.

The world was sideways. Looking at it from a normal vertical perspective put him at a right angle to its actual correct perspective.

Ichigo choose a building at random. The skyward pointing end was one side. The ground facing end was another. East and west. Left and right. Up was one edge. Down was another.

He would look for a door according to what made sense within the world's own orientation.

He moved onto the top facet of a skyscraper, metal and opaque blue glass beneath his feet. A search of the facet showed nothing. He'd hoped for a trapdoor, but there wasn't one.

He looked over both edges, searching for a door in the skyscraper but of course there wouldn't be.

Ichigo sat cross-legged to think.

Shiro-chan said, "What are you even doing?"

"Looking for a way in."

"Go in then," said Shiro-chan.

"I can't find a door."

"So? You're the King. Do what you want."

Ichigo stared at Shiro-chan, feeling, for the first time, as if he had some idea of what Shiro-chan meant by calling him King.

Ichigo gathered reiatsu to his fist and punched the glass window beneath himself.

#

#

They fell into a beige and blue room, shattered glass around them.

Ichigo landed on a beige-painted plane of drywall that would, if the world had not been sideways, been a wall. He resolved to think of it as the floor.

One 'wall' was what should normally be the ceiling. It had overhead flourescent lighting. A second 'wall' was what should normally have been the floor, covered in shorty grayish-blue carpet. On it, in defiance of gravity, were uncomfortable blue chairs that reminded him of the waiting room in his dad's clinic. Next to the chairs was a large oval table: maple, with a thick layer of polyurethane. Ichigo grabbed it, pulled, broke whatever force kept it attached to the 'wall', and set it on the 'floor' next to himself, so he could put things on it without them sliding off.

Kuro-Ossan carefully set his bonsai tree and ice sculpture on it.

Shiro-chan whooped and ran down the hall.

Ichigo sighed. Shiro-chan had actually said something useful, but did he have to act like such a child? There might be dangerous things in his inner world, like old fears and bad memories. And he might break something that shouldn't be broken.

Shiro-chan burst back in bearing a small bristly bundle of green. A two and a half foot tall plastic Christmas tree with dim lights.

"I found a tree." said Shiro-chan. "Just like in Shirayuki's world."

"Not quite," said Ichigo.

"It's a tree."

Ichigo said, "If you want, you can keep it. I wanna find a couple things to pay Rukia back for the ice sculpture and the bonsai tree."

"This tree," said Shiro-chan.

"No." Ichigo walked through the halls, looking into rooms as he passed them.

The room were small and drab, putting him in mind of an old office building, or perhaps a very large church, containing various rubbish. A comically large mug with the words 'World's Best Mom Written' on it. Several toy mice. A speaker that played tinny waiting room music whether it was hooked to anything or not. Nothing that seemed suitable for Rukia.

"Ichigo."

Kuro-Ossan was standing in the doorway, holding a large disco ball as if it were a holy relic.

"That is so uncool," Ichigo said.

"I believe she would like it."

"It's too lame."

Kuro-Ossan said, "May I have it?"

"Go ahead."

Ichigo followed Kuro-Ossan back to the first room, which, compared to the others, was a sort of lobby. Kuro-Ossan put the disco ball on the table next to his ice sculpture and bonsai tree, and Shiro-chan charged in holding a chappy plushy that was nearly four feet high.

Dumbstruck, Ichigo could only point.

Shiro-chan "Isn't this that rabbit thing Rukia likes?"

Ichigo said, "What the hell is that doing inside me?!"

"Dunno. Found it on the toilet."

"Why is there a toilet?!"

"Dunno. No water. Can't use it. It's on the floor, not the wall, so it's sideways. Do we bring the rabbit?"

"We bring the rabbit," Ichigo said. He hadn't noticed any plushies at the festival. Everything there was old fashioned. Even Kuro-Ossan's mask was wood rather than plastic.

Shiro-chan set the bunny on the wall next to Ichigo and he and Kuro-Ossan went to look for more while Ichigo stared at the bunny and the disco ball, pondering why they were in his inner world.

Kuro-Ossan re-entered the lobby with a line of snow globes set on his sword as if it were a shelf.

"Why is Santa Claus strangling that kid with a scarf?"

Kuro-Ossan said, "I believe the child is being punished for disobedience."

Ichigo choose the three least graphically violent snow globes to give to Rukia. Together with the chappy doll, they should make a suitable return gift.

Shiro-chan stumbled back into the lobby, bearing a huge dark object that barely fit through the broad corridor, knocking down chairs as he went. A huge console, and a stage for two, with bars on one end.

An Arcade game Ichigo had seen at the Arcade, and never, ever gone on. Dance Dance Revolution. The aracade's number one source of beat heavy electronic pop music.

Ichigo had passed the point of surprise. The chappy doll made sense in a twisted way. The graphically violent snow globes could be expressions of his inner fears. But he had no explanation for why a Dance Dance Revolution arcade game was in his inner world, and no desire to think on it.

Ichigo said, "I ain't using that. Shiro-chan?"

"Every instinct in me screams that it's too embarrassing. Kuro-bastard?"

Kuro-Ossan said, "I only listen to enka."

Ichigo said, "We'll give it to Rukia." Dance Dance Revolution was exactly the sort of thing to put that stupid starry-eyed look on her face.

Sighing, Ichigo grabbed the disco ball.

They set off, Ichigo at the front, disco ball under one arm, the giant chappy doll extended before him headfirst, Kuro-Ossan following with the three chosen snow globes and a round of blank CDs, Shiro-chan at the back lugging the massive Dance Dance Revolution arcade game, console in one arm, stage in the other.

Approaching the Soul Tunnel, his inner world changed. The sky darkened, and stars glimmered. Drifts of snow sprawled across the buildings. The air had a scent of pine and of festival foods.

He reached the void of the Soul Tunnel, and entered it.

Emerging from the blackness onto the snow of Rukia's inner world, he found Rukia and Shirayuki waiting. Her eyes went wide when she saw what Ichigo was carrying.

"Chappy!" yelled Rukia.

He tossed the plushy to her.

"Where did you get this?"

He shrugged, and she squeed over it as Shirayuki approached, arms extended, dark eyes wide.

Ichigo handed her the disco ball.

Holding it, she flicked her wrists, and it rose into the air and hung unmoving thirty feet above the ground.

Inner Worlds were weird.

Rukia was too busy hugging the Chappy to notice Zangetsu exiting with three snow globes and a round of blank CDs.

Shiro-chan lugging the arcade game was harder to miss.

Rukia pressed the Chappy plushy into Shirayuki's arms. "What is that?" she said.

With an omph, Shiro-chan set the arcade game on the ground beneath the floating disco ball.

"We need to plug it in," said Ichigo. Maybe the festival had a power outlet. Probably not.

Shiro-chan pressed a button. In defiance of normal logic, the little stage lit up, and music came from the console.

Not the electronic music he'd expected. Strings, with heavy bass. Some sort of percussion. And what reminded him of an oboe was doing the melody, but it was deeper than an oboe. He wasn't great at recognizing instruments.

Rukia said, "This is not the kind of music Yuzu and Karin listen too."

"It's a waltz," Ichigo said. "Glazunov, maybe? Sounds Russian." The name and composer were at the tip of his tongue.

Shiro-chan said, "It's Shostakovich's Waltz Number 2, shit for brains. Glazunov, sheesh."

Ichigo said, "How do you even know that?"

"How do you not remember the name of the best waltz? Anyway, I'm part of your watchamacallit, the lower mind thing."

"My subconscious."

"Yeah, that, so I know everything you know, except I don't forget it."

Ichigo would've yelled at Shiro-chan that he'd just forgotten the word 'subconscious,' but the sight of Rukia arrested his attention. Eyes wide and grin silly, she was skipping a half circle around the Dance Dance Revolution Arcade game.

Rukia said, "Ichigo, dance with me."

"I don't dance."

"But you know how a 'waltz' is to be danced."

"In theory," he said.

She dragged him by the hand and dragged him to the little stage, pulling him onto it with her.

She was close, his hand on his wrist was hot, and she had that stupid starry-eyed look on her face.

Ichigo stepped a little closer and put his right hand on his back, her short bob of hair brushing his thumb until he moved his hand a tad lower. He took her right hand in his left and said, "Put your left hand on my shoulder, and we just step where it lights up and try not to fall off."

Beneath the starry blue sky at the boundaries of their souls, on a Dance Dance Revolution stage set on the pure white snow, they danced Shostakovich's second waltz.

#

#

Rukia watched glumly as Urahara ringed up the charge. She was still an outer Rukongai brat at heart, and no matter how much money she made, she could never stop herself from regarding 10 kan as a lot of money and 20 as a fortune.

"78 kan," Urahara said.

Rukia winced.

Ichigo said, "I can pay."

"No."

"I get a paycheck too."

"Respect your senpai," she said, punching his shoulder and using her phone to pay.

"It looked like the price was causing you a problem."

Rukia said, "Do you even know how much money House Kuchiki has? I could buy this whole shop if I wanted."

"Then why'd you look constipated when it came time to pay?"

"I did not look 'constipated.' And I prefer to save my family account for family affairs." Formal wear for House Kuchiki events. "And even as a shinigami, I get paid more than you. That's called seniority. Compared to my monthly salary, this isn't much, and I'm the one who's training you, so it would hardly be fair if I made you pay for it."

Ichigo said, "I don't want to mooch."

"Fine. Pay for something for me next time.

Ichigo nodded. "Hey. Shopkeeper. I've been wanting to buy some human world things. Can I get my shinigami money converted into Yen?"

"Of course, Kurosaki-san. How many Yen would you like?"

Ichigo said, "What's the exchange rate?"

"67 Yen for one Kan."

Ichigo didn't look at Rukia, but he wanted to.

Rukia said, "It's not bad, considering."

With that blessing, Ichigo said, "5,000 Yen." That should be more than plenty for the Arcade, even if Rukia came and he paid for her. Though it was amazing how quickly one could burn through money at an arcade, and he now had a part-time job that, even with the exchange rate, paid him like a member of the lower-middle class.

Ichigo said, "Make that 6,000 Yen."

Urahara scanned Ichigo's Soul Phone, and gave him 6,000 Yen. "Pleasure doing business with you, Honored Customer!"

"Yeah. Sure."

Urahara said, "And if you ever want to convert any of your human allowance into Kan, I can convert the other way as well."

Ichigo froze.

"Out of curiosity, does your father pay you for helping out at his clinic?"

Rukia laughed, fake and high-pitched. "What are you going on about now?"

Urahara said, "Kuchiki-san. I have been living in this town for 20 years. Do you really think I never noticed an orange-haired boy with ridiculously high and completely uncontrolled reiatsu? Years ago, out of the goodness of my heart, I put a seal on his powers so Hollows wouldn't find him. One day, the seal broke. Before I realized it," he gestured to the two of them, "this happened."

"Nothing happened," said Rukia. Deny, deny, deny.

"Kurosaki-san was attacked by a Hollow. When the night was over, the Hollow was defeated, your powers were too reduced even to maintain a shihakusho, and Kurosaki-san was a substitute shinigami. A month later, you had regained your powers, Kurosaki-san had awakened shinigami powers of his own, and the two of you shared a strange bond, linking your reiatsus and your zanpakutou. You don't have to confirm any of that for me. I know it for a fact."

Rukia's hand tightened around the hilt of Sode no Shirayuki.

Urahara said, "It's a fascinating situation. As a former member of the Research and Development Institute, I'm perfectly happy to lend you my expertise. For a small fee, of course."

"Research and Development," Rukia said. "Prove it."

"Haven't my products done that already?"

"Prove to me that you were a shinigami," Rukia said, expecting him to show her an old badge or Division photo.

Bemused, Urahara Kisuke said, "You really haven't heard of me? I was quite well-known once upon a time."

"Clearly not as well-known as you thought."

Smiling, Kisuke raised his cane. "Wake up, Benihime."

The wood of the cane melted away, revealing a sword, a zanpakutou in shikai, along with a surprising level of reiatsu, appropriate to a third or fourth seat, and from his lack of strain, he could doubtless go higher.

That was not why Rukia's eyes went wide.

"You said you're an exile! Why do you have a zanpakutou? They should've stripped you of it."

Urahara said, "And now you have something over me. If I turn you in, you can turn me in in turn. Isn't that nice? So, let's trust each other, since there isn't any reason not to."

"What do you want?" said Ichigo, his own zanpakutou half out of its sheath.

"No need for fighting," said Urahara. "I only want to satisfy my curiosity. Let me examine the two of you. You don't have to decide now. Just think about it. And Kurosaki-san, when you do come, be sure to bring your human body."

Rukia grabbed Ichigo by the arm and pulled him out of the shop, caught in a daze. She'd thought no one had known. She'd felt guilty about lying to Captain Ukitake, but had assured herself that it was 'for the best' that no one knew.

But the shopkeeper knew.

She shunpoed high into the air so the town below looked like a toyset, staring up into the blue sky and letting the wind rock her, thankful for the presence of Ichigo next to her.

A puffy white cloud had traversed from the horizon to nearly level with them when finally spoke.

She said, "We could incapacitate them and adjust their memories, but Urahara is strong, and I'm sure the other man, Tessai, is strong too. Even the kids aren't weak.

"We could still take them, but..."

She completed the thought. "But it isn't right to attack someone who only says he wants to help."

"We're not criminals," Ichigo agreed. "And even if we put that aside and attacked them it could go bad in a lot of ways."

The puffy white cloud passed on by.

"I guess we'd better do it," Ichigo said.

Rukia sighed.

Ichigo eyed her. He'd never seen her looking so stressed, even when she was without her powers. Though perhaps she simply hadn't been willing to let him see it then.

Ichigo said, "The day after tomorrow, I'm going to an Arcade with some friends. I haven't gotten to see them lately. They said to say that you're invited."

"An Arcade?"

"It's a place to play games."

"Human games," said Rukia, ruminating on it. It would be a good cultural experience.

Ichigo's friends would ask her questions. She hadn't done any memory adjustments. She'd decided that since so many people in Karakura had unusual spiritual sensitivity, it would be less noticeable if the transfer student simply transferred out.

Or maybe the real reason was that she'd become fond of some of them, and hadn't wanted to erase herself from their memories.

She didn't mind the idea of seeing them again.

And for a few hours, she could forget the situation.

:::

Joe Hisashi's the Merry-go-Round of Life (Howl's Moving Castle) reminds me a lot of Shostakovich's Waltz Number 2, but the Merry Go Round is more melancholic, while Waltz 2 is more dire. Dire = better fit. Both are romantic as hell.

I though this section would be longer, which is why I decided to divide the Inner Worlds section into two chapters. In retrospect, it should've been only one, and it should've ended with the line, "they danced Shostakovich's second waltz." Ah well.

My car works! I replaced the sparkplugs, the fuel filter, and the fuel pump relay (which was hard to get to.) Hours and hours of work. But it turns out that all along, the problem was my ignition relay, and replacing that was literally a 20 second job. If I'd known, I could've done it while waiting at a stoplight.


	10. Chapter 10: Just Friends

**Ch 10: Just Friends**

Getting a gigai from Urahara had been awkward but not hard, with one complication. Gigai automatically matched to the physical characteristics of the wearer, and she'd gotten a lot taller. Urahara had modified it so she was only a few inches taller than she'd been before rather than almost a foot. Little enough to be passed off by fuzzy memory and a growth spurt.

Still, standing outside the Arcade with Ichigo waiting for the others, she felt a bit awkward, like the gigai didn't quite fit. Kon had been made for it, but it still must be tough for him, going from Ichigo's body to a plushy and then back again.

Tatsuki was the first to arrive, Orihime with her. "Ichigo, Kuchiki-san."

Rukia put on her 'proper human girl act.' Though she'd realized early on that it was a little off, it had worked, and it was too late to break character. She bowed formally, smiled brightly, and said, "Arisawa-san, Inoue-san, how good to see you again."

Inoue Orihime greeted her in like manner while Arisawa Tatsuki bowed minimally, informally, and watched Ichigo roll his eyes.

Tatsuki said, "Ichigo said your Aunt picked you up?"

"She did. She took me to my older brother. I'm living with him now. He's a great deal older than me, and he's doing well in business." Better to use Onii-sama as a model than to make-up someone entirely new. Easier that way to remember her lies.

At Tatsuki's prompting, Rukia went on with a few details about her room and what town she lived in, Rukia answering with prepared answers she'd already run by Ichigo.

Ichigo noticed Orihime was looking at Rukia with watery eyes, and realized how similar that was to the girl's own history.

"Kuchiki-san!" Mizuiro and Keigo were coming toward them. Keigo was the screamer, arms extended, going in for the full body hug.

Ichigo clotheslined him.

Hardly bothered, Keigo brushed himself off and said, "So you really are keeping in contact with the lovely Kuchiki-san."

"So nice to see you again, Asano-san, Kojima-san."

Rukia made further polite noises, which Ichigo ignored until Mizuiro said, "Are you two dating."

"No,"

"We're not dating," Ichigo said.

"Definitely not," agreed Rukia.

Ichigo said, "Time for the Arcade?"

They walked into the arcade. Cozey dimness, flickering lights, electronic sounds and the smell of popcorn. Ichigo kept an eye on Rukia. He'd explained the concept at length, but they hadn't actually demoed a game.

Rukia stopped, starry-eyed, and pointed.

Rukia said, "Look, Ichigo, it's our game. But it's not our song."

Tatsuki's and Orihime's eyes widened. Keigo wailed, and Mizuiro patted Ichigo on the back and gave him a somber, approving nod.

Ichigo sighed. Rukia had no idea of the meaning attached to the phrase 'our song.'

Rukia said, "Let's do it."

"No."

"It's good footwork practice."

"I refuse." He crossed his arms.

She grabbed his elbow and squeezed, hard, fingertips digging in.

"Agh!"

She pulled him to the Dance Dance Revolution game, Ichigo stumbling as he went.

"Let me go, Bitch."

"Dancing is a noble art. You should be happy to learn it."

"This is not going to teach me."

"Shut up and put the money in."

Pulling out a few coins, he said, "Why am I putting the money in?" Not that he hadn't intended to pay of it all from the start.

"I paid last time. You said you'd pay next time. This is next time."

Sighing, Ichigo put coins in.

Tatsuki said, "Last time?"

"Batting cages," Ichigo improvised, then cursed himself. There was no way they wouldn't believe that he and Rukia weren't dating.

Music started, beat heavy and electronic, the screen showing the steps.

Ichigo resolutely did not move.

Rukia elbowed him, and he reluctantly took the proscribed step.

20 seconds in, he forgot his embarrassment and began to enjoy himself, laughing when he missed a step or bumped into Rukia.

He hardly ever laughed. Rukia laughed a lot, but except for one time, it had always been the impossibly fake 'hohoho' that, miraculously, no one else realized was a put on.

But she was laughing too.

After the first song, Ichigo bowed out and Orihime replaced him, and proved to be highly practiced at the game.

Standing next to Tatsuki, his heart beat returning to its normal rate, Tatsuki said, "You're sure she's not your girlfriend?"

"I'm sure."

"Just platonically hanging out with the girl who lives an hour and a half away."

Ichigo shrugged.

"Aside from having a not girlfriend, how's life?"

"Oh, you know. School." Hollows. A Quincy. Visiting another dimension and being inducted into its military. Learning magic spells. Reading books on regulations. Talking swords that lived inside him. Some sort of soul bond with the hundred and fifty year old shinigami whose virginity he'd taken. "The usual. You? How's karate?"

"I've decided that what I really need to get to the next level isn't greater technique, it's greater strength and speed. So I've been putting a lot into my physical capabilities."

"Running and weight lifting?"

"Something like that," said Tatsuki.

The conversation was awkward. Was it really so long since they'd spent time together that they'd forgotten how? No. That wasn't it. It was how Tatsuki was looking at him, as if she were searching for clues.

He said, "Mortal Combat?"

"Mortal Combat," she agreed.

Time passed in a haze of flickering lights and electronic beeps.

#

#

Rukia stood alone in the arcade, sipping a sweet tea. She was out of coins, and hadn't yet tracked down Ichigo for more. She had played long enough and needed a break. Ichigo was still going hard playing against Keigo, and last she'd seen, Orihime had been with Mizuiro.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Rukia didn't turn. Tatsuki. She could feel the girl well enough.

Rukia said, "Yes, but all those violent games are too much for my heart. I need a moment to calm down."

Tatsuki snorted.

"And you, Arisawa-san. Why aren't you playing?"

"Just wanted to talk."

Rukia said nothing. She had noticed that even with his forbidding manner, people often felt compelled to fill the silence Nii-sama left.

Tatsuki said, "What do you hate, Kuchiki-san?"  
"That's an odd question, Arisawa-san."

"Just curious."

Eyes roaming the Arcade, glancing at Ichigo silent and composed at the controls as Keigo flailed, Rukia said, "I hate the feeling of inadequacy. Of not belonging, not deserving to be were I am or have what I have."

Tatsuki said, "For me, I hate powerlessness."

"That one is also detestable," Rukia agreed.

"I want to be powerful, but I'm not sure how."

"You're very good at Karate, and that's nice, but physical power isn't often called for in modern society. Financial, social and intellectual strength. Those are what matter most."

"I suppose."

Rukia had liked Tatsuki when she'd attended school. Being a martial arts nut wasn't anywhere to being a shinigami, but she had felt a little familiar, a little easier to understand. Now, though, Tatsuki's serious manner was worrying her, almost as if she knew something.

Tatsuki said, "What are your intentions toward Ichigo?"

Suppressing a sigh of relief, Rukia concluded that the shojo manga she'd read weren't as unrealistic as she'd thought. She laughed her fake, lady-like laugh and said, "Intentions, Arisawa-san? I only want to enjoy the company of my good friend Kurosaki-san. Why, do you like him?"

Tatsuki colored and said, "No!"

"You're blushing."

"Of course I'll blush a little if you ask a question like that. He's just a friend."

Just a friend, perhaps, but Rukia was sure Tatsuki had at least thought about him being more, and maybe it would've gone that way if Rukia had just defeated that stupid Hollow herself. No chance of it happening anymore, though. They lived in different worlds.

Tatsuki said, "He might not seem it, but Ichigo is a very giving person with the people he likes. He could hurt himself pretty badly protecting people from what he shouldn't."

"I know," said Rukia. "He's smart, but in some ways he could be easy to take advantage. He keeps volunteering to come out to see me. I have to argue with him for me to come out to see him instead and keep it fair." Not the best metaphor for the way he kept pushing himself further into shinigami life, but the best she could come up with in the pause between one sentence and the next.

Tatsuki said, "He does a lot dangerous things. Getting into fights. Skateboarding when he was younger."

Rukia said, "I'll try to restrain that, but I think he might always insist on doing dangerous things. Like becoming a police officer." A police officer, she'd eventually decided, was a closer analog to a shinigami than a soldier was. True, the vast majority of Japanese police officers went their whole careers without one life or death fight, but judging by what she'd learned in her human history class, the way the Gotei 13 functioned was utterly different from how a human army functioned, and much more similar to a police department. Officers going on patrol in ones or twos, guiding lost people home, and fighting infrequent, usually solitary attackers.

Even the occasional Hollow incursion was handled by small numbers of elite shinigami, not large groups of the unseated masses.

"Take care of him, Kuchiki-san."

#

#

Ichigo had been called into the Principal's office plenty. For fights he hadn't started. For having orange hair. For talking to the air when he was young and hadn't always realized that ghosts were ghosts. He'd learned to walk into it with a bit of nervousness, a bit of unease, and a lot of tightly controlled belligerence.

Walking into Urahara's shop felt a lot like going into the Principal's office.

The door chimed. Urahara looked up from contemplation of his fingernails and said, "Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki-san, how good to have you back. And in human form this time, Kurosaki-san."

He shrugged. He didn't want Kon involved.

Urahara said, "Jinta!"

The red-haired boy came out from the back of the shop, stood behind the counter, and Urahara Kisuke led them into the simple, ordinary stockroom.

He pulled a lamp, and a section of the wall slid away, revealing a spiral staircase leading down.

Hands on their zanpakutou, Rukia and Ichigo him down the stairs, into a corridor that Ichigo guessed existed for the sake of gaining distance from the Training Ground, and down a second spiral staircase.

They emerged into a laboratory filled with bubbling beakers, many pronged antennae-like instruments, microscopes, a hospital bed, and two glass booths lined with more instruments.

Urahara said, "Kurosaki-san, please take off your human body."

Ichigo jerked out of it quickly. He found it easier every time.

Urahara grabbed the body and placed it on the hospital bed. "I'd like to make a few slight modifications. As it is, any passing shinigami might notice the remarkable resemblance between this human body and the talented shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo. I'll set the hair to darkening gradually into a orangish-brown. It's normal for light-haired humans to have their hair darken with age.

"Additionally, this body is already at above average height for a Japanese male. I'll stop its growth here. And finally," Urahara smacked his palm hard on Ichigo's body's face. There was a wet crunch, and blood flowed from its nose.

"What the hell?" said Ichigo, gripping Zangetsu.

Urahara said, "You stepped on a child's wagon, fell, broke your nose, and it won't heal quite right. I think I'll make it flatter."

"Excellent," said Rukia.

"Rukia! Don't just go along with this."

"It makes perfect sense."

Maybe it did, but Ichigo didn't like the idea of looking into the mirror and seeing a stranger.

Urahara said, "The proportions of your face are changing slightly as your cheekbones grow. I'll stop that too."

Ichigo groaned.

Urahara said, "Different eyes, different hair, different nose, different cheeks. A shame you used your real name signing up as a shinigami."

Rukia said, "Hey, Ichigo, is there a way to change your official human name?"

"Sure," said Ichigo. "If you think I should spend my whole human life going by a false name, something I don't refer to myself as in my own head."

She froze, then bowed. "My apologies. I was insensitive."

"Don't bow to me like that. It's weird."

Urahara began work on Ichigo's body's nose, one hand glowing green as he mishealed it, and as he worked, Rukia told Urahara the story of how their connection came to be, though when it came time to explain how exactly she got her powers back, she simply said, "Eventually, Ichigo, while in the process of pushing my reiatsu into me, learned his zanpakutou's name, and I regained my powers."

"Fascinating," said Urahara, finishing up Ichigo's body's nose. "And since then you've been experiencing this near telepathy?"

Rukia said, "It's getting stronger. At first it was only sensing him easily. Now..."

Ichigo said, "I know where she is all the time, and I sort of have an idea of her mood."

"When he's in a fight, I almost see it."

"If I focus, I can usually tell roughly what she's doing."

"We entered each others' Inner Worlds."

That brought genuine surprise to Urahara's face. "Expand on that."

Rukia and Ichigo told the whole embarrassing tale, interjecting over each other whenever they liked, concluding with the waltz on the Dance Dance Revolution stage.

Rukia said, "You kept stepping on my feet."

Ichigo said, "You kept putting your feet where I was supposed to step."

"It's not my fault. You said the game wasn't designed for circles. We did much better at the one in the Arcade. We should go to one of your human dance halls soon."

"Hell no."

"You always say that, but you know you'd have fun."

Ichigo said, "Just because your release command is 'Dance' doesn't mean I have to like dancing."

"But you do like dancing, as long as you don't let yourself feel embarrassed."

Watching the back and forth, watching them touch and nudge each other without properly realizing it, Urahara said, "So you two...?" He made a highly inappropriate motion with his hands.

"No!" said Rukia.

Ichigo said, "Why would you even think that?"

"Why does everyone think that? Ichigo is just a kid."

Ichigo said, "I'm not a kid."

"You're 15."

Ichigo said, "I have a real adult job now. That means I'm not a kid anymore."

"Clearly you haven't seen Vice-Captain Yachiru."

"If I'm a kid, what kind of pervert does that make you?"

Rukia sputtered. "That was a medical procedure!"

"Is that what they called it in your day, oh Ancient One?"

She puffed up. "Ancient One?!"

"So...?" said Urahara, making the highly inappropriate hand movement again.

"No!" they yelled in concert.

"Interesting," said Urahara Kisuke. "For that power transfer to work, I'd expect that you'd have to use a method to thin your boundaries. So if it wasn't that, how-"

"Just the one time," Rukia said. "But it was only a medical procedure."

Urahara said, "For that to be of assistance, true intimacy would be requi-"

"Medical Procedure!" she said again, fist clenching.

"Ma, ma, of course you're right," Urahara said. "A medical procedure. However it happened, it is what it is, so let's run some tests. Kuchiki-san, please sit in that booth, and Kurosaki-san, in the other."

They each sat in a glass booth filled with small instruments, and a monitor on Urahara's desk began to beep.

For a while Urahara simply let it collect raw data, working further on Ichigo's body as he did, but when it had gained enough, he tested them.

Asking them to flare, then suppress their reiatsu, first together and then by turns. Showing one a flash card and asking the other what it had said. Having them release their shikai.

"Interesting," said Urahara. "Please reseal your zanpakutou, and exchange them."

Doing so, a little confused, they each sat back in their booths with other's sealed zanpakutou.

Urahara said, "Kurosaki-san, I wonder if your zanpakutou would be amenable to being released by Kuchiki-san."

Rukia said, "That's impossible."

After a moment's hesitation, Ichigo said, "Kuro-Ossan doesn't like it, but Shiro-chan is willing to try. Rukia, you remember his release command?"

Rukia stared at the zanpakutou and said, "Reign over all creation, Shiro-chan Zangetsu!"

The sealed form of Ichigo's zanpakutou shortened to a wazikashi as a second blade appeared in Rukia's hands, the long, white triangular cleaver of Shiro-chan Zangetsu.

Rukia looked startled that it had worked, then satisfied.

Ichigo turned bright red. "Bastard!"

Rukia turned red as well, satisfaction fading, and gave Shiro-chan a severe look.

"Behave yourself," she said.

Urahara said, "Kuchiki-san, should I take it that you're able to communicate with Kurosaki-san's zanpakutou while holding it?"

Rukia nodded.

"And Kurosaki-san, you can still hear it?"

"Little faded, but yeah."

"Remarkable. Kurosaki-san, release Kuchiki-san's shikai."

He waved it awkwardly. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki."

Frost spread up the blade's hilt. Ichigo cursed.

Rukia said, "Fool, ask respectfully, in the right frame of mind."

Ichigo focused and thought of dancing. Not of Dance Dance Revolution, but of the memory he had of Rukia dancing with Sode no Shirayuki beneath the crescent moon.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki."

He had never known that the coming of winter was so much like a flower unfolding.

The blade turned white in his hand, white ribbon fluttering behind him. The air chilled, tiny ice crystals forming, and for an instant, Ichigo felt that no matter how intense the cold became, it could never be anything but refreshing.

An instant later he was fighting shivers and realizing that it was Rukia who felt that way.

Urahara said, "How does it feel?"  
"Like I'm using someone else's zanpakutou."

Rukia said, "She doesn't like it either. She says she'd only do it for real if there were no other choice."

"Hmm," said Urahara. "I'd like to go further, but if the zanpakutou are agitated, it's best not to push them. Seal your zanpakutous. We're done for the day."

They gave each other their own zanpakutous back, Rukia still absorbing the fact that they'd been able to release each other's zanpakutous. She'd heard of such a thing, but only in fiction. Very sappy romances, mostly.

Ichigo said, "So?"

"I'll have a clearer answer once I've analyzed the data."

Ichigo shifted uncomfortably.

"Something on your mind, Kurosaki-san?"

Ichigo said, "Since our souls intermingled and the like, is Rukia sort of my sister now?" From his expression, he was afraid of the answer.

Urahara said, "The short answer is no, absolutely not. The long answer..."

Urahara had a theory. Spiritual mingling happened, on a minor level, between any people who were emotionally close and often in each other's presence. Most often, it was observed between older married couples. Ichigo and Rukia had, with the Hougyoku involved, artificially reached a level of mingling that was very rarely achieved naturally. It would never completely go away, but if they wanted to ease it back, the solution was simple. Avoid each other, and don't think about or care about each other, the last two being a difficult trick.

Whereas if they continued to be good friends, the bond would strengthen. If they explored the bond, it would strengthen even more.

Urahara said, "I'll know more later, but I believe you created the bond in a mechanical, if nearly irreproducible, way. Attempting to undo it would be complicated, difficult, certainly traumatic, and possibly lethal. From what you've said, your zanpakutous would likely protest. We can dismiss that possibility out of hand.

"I do not think the bond is 'strengthening.' Instead, you're becoming attuned to it, just as a sound seems louder when you pay attention to it. As with any other power, the key to stopping it from causing problems is to master it.

"Experiment with it, press its boundaries, in jinzen and without. Learn to control it. Physical contact may be of use, as well as replication of original circumstances.

:::

Kisuke lies, yo.

I don't often like Soul Bond stories. Some are very good, but many use the Soul Bond to avoid having to develop an actual relationship. But this isn't a "you're my destined Soul Mate Super Duper True Love Match Made in Heaven, Staring into your Eyes Fulfills me Emotionally, Spiritually and Intellectually," Soul Bond. It's a "we done fucked up and now we're fused together," Soul Bond. It has much in common with stories where characters are handcuffed together.

Plot is coming, but there's more developmental slice of life first.

I wrote a Bleach oneshot called Dye it Black that doesn't seem to be getting much traffic. I thought it was above my usual standard, but maybe I'm wrong?

When I started this story, I did not expect to type the word, 'dance' so many times.


	11. Chapter 11: Character Growth

**Ch 11: Character Growth**

Class let out, and Ichigo walked to the back of the classroom, stopping in front of the desk of Ishida Uryuu.

Ishida Uryuu glared, looked away, glared again.

Ichigo said, "We should talk."

Zipping his bag, Ishida stood and moved toward the door, joining the tail end of the exiting line.

For a moment, Ichigo thought Ishida was simply ignoring him, but the ex-Quincy paused and Ichigo realized he was waiting.

Rukia was elsewhere in the town, doing her rounds, and Ichigo turned his attention to her. Not exactly telepathy, as it was normally thought of. No words. Just poking her, asking for her attention, and he felt her awareness seep into him in response.

Ichigo followed Ishida to the roof of the school, which was an interesting choice. Perhaps Ishida didn't realize that Ichigo and friends typically ate there and so it was effectively Ichigo's territory. Or perhaps he knew and didn't care.

They faced each other, victims of a long, uncomfortable silence, and Rukia landed softly on the roof between them. Ichigo didn't let his eyes flicker toward her, and Ishida didn't notice her at all. Currently without spiritual powers and all.

Ichigo leaned against the fence that edged in the roof and said, "You still hate me?"

"Yes."

"That's fine. I'm still angry at you for the bait."

Ishida looked aside, face twisting, and that told Ichigo what he needed to know. Ishida had thought about what he'd done, and he was ashamed.

Ichigo said, "But I don't have anything left against you. I'm not planning to _do_ anything."

The question was unspoken. Did Ishida still have anything against him? Was he pondering revenge?

Ishida pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Ichigo sighed extravagantly. "I can understand why you'd hate shinigami. Captain Ukitake told me the story about how the shinigami destroyed most Quincy. Even his version sounded pretty brutal. A horrible yet necessary choice. I'd imagine the Quincy version sounds different."

"No," said Ishida. "The version I heard also made it sound like a difficult and necessary choice. When I was told the story, I sided with the shinigami."

"Oh," said Ichigo, nonplussed. "Why the hell did you say you hate shinigami, then?"

Ishida said, "My sensei was a very kind man. As the last Quincy, the shinigami kept him under observation, and he wanted to collaborate with the shinigami. He dreamed of working together, and they always refused, answered every offer with, 'do not interfere with out work.' He informed them of Pluses they'd missed, and they said, 'do not interfere with our work.' When possible, he avoided Hollows, and when forced to fight them, rather than destroying them, he tried to disable or trap them so the shinigami could purify them. And they said, 'do not interfere with our work.'"

Ishida continued, "One day, five large Hollows attacked. It was obvious he couldn't win, and he faced them alone. Two hours later, the shinigami arrived. One hour after sensei died. In the end, Sensei's ideals never reached the shinigami. If they had acknowledged sensei's opinion, if they had acknowledged the strength of the Quincy, they would've come earlier, and sensei's death wouldn't have happened." Ishida's fist clenched.

Ichigo took the story in. Accepted it. In regards to Ishida Uryuu, the shinigami had made a mistake. He had a legitimate grievance.

But Ichigo was still too angry over the fact that _Karin had almost died_ to respond completely without vitriol.

"That sucks," said Ichigo. "That really sucks. It's a story where the shinigami sound negligent. But, what do you think of how the story ends? The young Quincy grows up a little, uses Hollow bait to challenge a rookie shinigami to a competition, and more Hollows come than he'd expected. A Menos, even, and it could've gone really, really badly if the rookie shinigami's experienced partner hadn't returned from Soul Society so promptly."

Ishida's cheek twitched, jaw rigid. "The young Quincy was very foolish, and what the shinigami Captain did to him, while tyrannical and high-handed, wasn't completely unwarranted." The admission seemed to take Ishida a lot effort, pushed out between gritted teeth, and Ichigo was impressed that Ishida could look at himself so objectively. He wasn't sure he could've done that from the distance of only a couple weeks.

Ichigo said, "Captain Ukitake mentioned something about some Quincies regaining their powers."

Ishida said, "He mentioned it to me as well, requesting that if I regained my powers, I should use them more _responsibly_." Ishida's lip curled, but his eyes were downcast.

"I hope you are," said Ichigo. He hesitated, then made himself say, "If you do get your powers back, maybe we could work together a bit. Collaborate."

Ichigo looked away, stretching, pretending that he didn't know the weight of what he'd just said. "It's not like I've got any influence. I'm just a rookie, and strange one too. My legal status is a bit up in the air. But for my part, if you wanted to tell me about any Pluses I'd missed, I'd be happy to hear about them. As for fighting Hollows... Orihime's brother ended up turning into a Hollow. There's a decent chance my mom ended up as a Hollow, or as part of one. Don't know about your sensei. So balance of the worlds aside, I'd really prefer you didn't destroy Hollows, if at all possible. But if you wanted to disable and capture them and wait for me to show up and purify them, that would be a big help."

Standing nearly next to Ishida, Rukia nodded solemnly, and Ichigo said, "That goes for Rukia too. And though she's not an officer, she's got a lot more influence than I do. If she mentions it to her Captain, he might listen."

Ishida said, "I won't be a servant to the shinigami."

"Wouldn't ask you to. But so long as you don't have a way to Konso Pluses or Purify Hollows, we can't quite be equals in it. How about a junior partner?"

Ishida's gaze darkened.

Ichigo said, "Shinigami are shinigami. It's more than what they do. It's what they are. The weapons they use for it come from their very souls. But you're human. You're gonna have a normal job and all that, right? For you, fighting Hollows is on the side. And when you die, there's a good chance you'll become a shinigami. Probably a strong one too."

Ishida looked as if he'd bitten a lemon.

"Whatever," said Ichigo. "It's all moot until you regain your powers. See you around, Ishida."

Ichigo took the stairs down, abandoning the roof to the Quincy.

#

#

Urahara Kisuke was pleased. He didn't need any of his absurdly complicated byzantine plots to work out. He just needed Aizen's byzantine plots to fail. Preferably loudly and catastrophically For that, every wildcard, every X-factor, every wrench in the gears, was an opportunity to be courted, to be nourished and raised for no reason past general principle.

And so, Urahara had his humans.

They were progressing nicely, but Urahara felt they needed a little more seasoning.

It was hardly unheard of for a Hollow to appear in the living world and immediately leave. It simply meant it had gotten a closer read of the strength of the local shinigami and decided discretion was the better part of valor.

So when Urahara Kisuke came upon a level 2 Hollow, bound it, trussed it up, hid it with a few Kido, and escaped with it back to his candy shop, Ichigo and Rukia didn't wonder very hard where it had gone.

When Urahara reached his Underground Training Basement, Sado-san had his right arm activated and was punching dents in the wall, Inoue-san was using her Shun Shun Rikka to try to protect the wall, and Tatsuki-chan was going through a sword drill.

Unnoticed by his cute darling students, Urahara hid himself with a camouflaging Kido and released the Hollow, feeling like a female cat bringing a live rat back to the burrow for its kits to play with. Perhaps Yoruichi should've been doing it, for the sake of symbolism, but they had a strict rule against Yoruichi taking her true form on the streets of Karakura Town. So far as they knew, Aizen was unaware of her feline form.

His proteges responded with all the hissing, puffed up startlement of kittens on seeing their first rat. Sado-san shot a ball of reiatsu that missed wide and would've struck Urahara if he hadn't leaned out of the way. Inoue-san shrieked, backed up, and stuttered the command as she tried to bring the shield in front of herself and Sado-san. Typical reactions of the sufficiently drilled to their first engagement.

Tatsuki-chan skidded to a halt in front of the Hollow, sword raised and at the ready.

Urahara smiled.

Sado's abilities were interesting. The Hougyoku acting on his natural Fullbring. Urahara doubted the big man had it in him to get to Captain level, but he might get to what lately passed for Vice-Captain level in short order. That could be useful.

He had much less hope for Orihime as a fighter, but her healing ability was remarkable. With time, she might, in some limited ways, surpass even Captain Unohana. Restoring limbs, for example.

Tatsuki was more disappointing. The Hougyoku had touched her lightly, and unlike Sado, she had no strange innate ability, and unlike Orihime, no 'sacred objects' that she carried around on her person for the Hougyoku to concentrate on.

Instead, the Hougyoku had given her the sort of strength she knew. The sort she had observed and envied. She could, in human form, summon a fake zanpakutou, a sort of DIY asauchi. From what he could see, she amounted to a pale imitation of a shinigami. A human shinigami, one might say, and not a strong one. Thinking about it normally, she should reach the power of a 10th seat at best, and another one of those wouldn't make any difference.

Urahara Kisuke had seldom been accused of thinking about anything normally. He saw the look in her eyes as she trained, as if she were willing to bet her life on it for no particular reason. He saw the look in her eyes as she faced her first Hollow, a chitinous thing like a four and a half foot high beetle with large, crab-like front claws.

Fear falling instead of rising, adjusting her stance and her hold on her sword until they were exactly what they were supposed to be.

Casually, Urahara cast Bakudos on Inoue and Sado. Either of them, he was sure, could defeat the Hollow with ease, once they'd calmed down, and that wouldn't do.

Tatsuki-chan's opening strike was careful, but not hesitant. Probing. A hard downward swing, blade screeching as it met the claw, scratching but not piercing the chitin.

Its second claw swung toward her, and Tatsuki leapt back.

Two more exchanges had similar results, Tatsuki giving up ground each time, narrowly avoiding its claws.

For each of your enemy's arms to be as strong as both of yours put together was a definition of being outclassed, and there was no way Tatsuki hadn't realized that. Yet she was wearing a desperate grin.

She circled quickly, trying to see if she could move more quickly than it could turn and get around to an unprotected flank.

More agile though she was, it had a smaller circle to turn to keep her in front of it.

Tatsuki reversed the direction of her circling, and the Hollow was an instant late to respond, and even then, it was a square, cumbersome thing and agility was not its strength.

Tatsuki got a line on its shoulder and struck hard.

Her blade landed an inch from where it should've, and rather than cutting the claw arm off at the shoulder, it only drew a line of blood along it and along the Hollow's side.

The Hollow burst forward, ramming its bulk straight into Tatsuki, and Tatsuki rolled with the hit, springing back to her feet just in time to dodge its rush. As it passed her, she left a long gash on its back, then another, pursuing it. The Hollow turned, sweeping its claws at her, and Tatsuki again leapt away.

She was bleeding from her head where it had clipped her with a claw, and Urahara knew that she had heavy bruises at best from when it had body-checked her, and quite likely cracked bones. Yet she was grinning more broadly than before.

Urahara wanted popcorn and a lawn chair. He felt negligent for not arranging such.

Behind Tatsuki, the bound Inoue was still making noise. Tatsuki glanced at her, but immediately returned her focus to the Hollow. Good. He'd used a Bakudo they wouldn't recognize, and perhaps the question had occurred to her of whether their incapacitation was some power of the Hollow or Urahara giving a lesson, but she wasn't dwelling on the question, not while a Hollow was in front of her.

The Hollow advanced, but not at such a reckless charge as before, and Tatsuki was unable to repeat the simple trick of letting it pass by and striking its undefended flanks and back. Instead, she was skipping around and trying to get another look at the shoulder she'd already cut into, though she'd also picked a spot on the claw and was battering at it, cutting in deeper, gradually wearing away the armor. Her intent was sharp, even if her reiatsu wasn't high.

She drew a thin line of blood on the claw and the Hollow changed the angle it held the claw at, making it less of a sweep and more of an awkward stab, wheeling around to try to get its other claw at her, hindered by its own bulk.

That could change the fight, a combatant being hesitant to use one of its weapons.

On the other hand, Tatsuki was getting winded. It wouldn't be long before her footwork lost its precision, and she'd be in serious trouble then.

But the Hollow must not've been as observant as Urahara, because instead of waiting her out, it reared up on its back legs, aiming to crush her beneath its bulk.

Urahara Kisuke felt a moment's nostalgia for the days when his enemies had been stupid.

Tatsuki stepped directly under the Hollow, and rather than waiting for it to come back down and impale itself on her sword, risking herself being crushed, as he'd expected, she stepped through, lopping one claw off at the shoulder, taking a kick from one of its legs.

She let the kick help spin her out from under it, ducking as she did. Coming out the other side, she pivoted just as the Hollow slammed the ground, and brought her blade smoothly down on its unprotected head.

The Hollow scattered into light, being purified rather than destroyed. Perhaps Tatsuki's blade was a real zanpakutou after all.

She put a hand to her stomach where it had kicked her, and her hand turned red.

Urahara released the Bakudos on Inoue and Sado, and the two raced to their friend. Tatsuki carefully sat, and Inoue summoned her 'healing' faeries.

Letting his camouflaging Kido fall away, Urahara appeared between them with shunpo. "No," he said to Inoue.

"But-"

"Your ability doesn't 'heal.' It undoes. And Tatsuki-chan doesn't need that fight to be undone." One hand lit with aquamarine healing Kido. Urahara said, "Show me your stomach."

Tatsuki-chan lifted her shirt to her breastbone. The puncture was ragged and a little north of her belly-button. Examination showed it hadn't gone deep.

Sado-san said, "You brought that Hollow here. You bound Inoue-san and I."

"Of course. Tatsuki-chan, how was the fight?"

"It was a fight," she answered. "Thank you."

Urahara decided that of the three, he'd place his biggest bet on her.

#

#

Kurosaki Karin's tangible talent was, as expected, quite a ways beyond Tatsuki's. Birth really was unfair and inequitable. Urahara admired humans in that way. They didn't have such a ridiculously unequal spread of innate talent as spirits had. Except, it seemed, in spiritual power.

For Karin, one or two Hollows brought back to his basement wouldn't do. He took her on a field trip instead, Karin in shinigami form, a gikon animating her body back in town. They went deep into the mountains, and Urahara spread Hollow bait. Just a little.

The Hollows came, and Urahara watched.

He already had devices to help her spiritual power in human form feel like a human's. If she improved as quickly as he expected, he'd have to innovate new ones.

He'd forgotten how much he enjoyed teaching.

#

#

There seemed to be little reason for Urahara to take a hand in Ichigo's training. Kuchiki Rukia was a fiercer instructor than he'd expected. And powerful too. Whatever they'd done to each other, with the Hougyoku's help, had been every bit as consequential as he'd hoped.

Still, there was that extra touch. You never knew how to fight for your life against a superior opponent until you'd done it.

#  
#

School was letting out for the summer. Ichigo had mentioned, in a painfully casual way, that he'd scored 18th in his grade, so Rukia had slapped him on his back and told him not to get too cocky.

He'd seemed to appreciate it.

With summer vacation came a trip to Soul Society. The plan was to stay there for at least three weeks. Considering the unusual number of occurrences in Karakura Town, they'd be replaced by four Shinigami, including the 8th seat and one of the several 13th seats.

But for the moment, it was just Ichigo looking after Karakura Town. She'd planned on a quick trip back to the Division to ensure everything was arranged, and when she'd gotten there, Captain Ukitake had called her into his office and told her he was promoting her to 11th Seat.

She'd felt horrible about it. She was lying to him about Ichigo, about the serious crime she'd committed, and Captain Ukitake was promoting her. The long looked for promotion was ash in her mouth.

Even as she'd gagged on the bitterness, she'd received a message asking her to come to the Kuchiki Estate with all promptness. Once there she'd been presented to the Kuchiki elders as the clan's newest officer. They'd been polite and respectful. Some of them had gone so far as to be warm, and she thought even Nii-sama had looked pleased for an instant. It would've been surprisingly pleasant if she hadn't felt the whole time like an impostor. Like she'd felt the first few years after being graduated early and being put unready in Division 13.

The meeting was winding down when she felt, as though across great distance, Ichigo's surprise. Then anger. Greater surprise and a flash of fear. Heard the clash of blades through ears that weren't hers. Felt a powerful and fierce reiatsu, and Ichigo's reiatsu rising in response.

Back in the human world, Ichigo was fighting for his life.

:::

I lamented in some author's note in some story that I had not found a lot of Bleach fics I liked. I have since found more and added some of them to my favorites.

I have long been wary of the implicit assumption of story after story that trauma = personal development. I tend to think it causes you to be traumatized. But portraying traumatized people isn't something I'm very interested in doing. I don't enjoy it, and it's not as if stories have to be realistic.

A story is a sort of thing where events that would be traumatic and horrible in real life can be fun and character building. The characters react to thing less as real people would than as readers do? We enjoy Bilbo killing all the spiders, and he shouts a taunting rhyme as he does it, so Bilbo enjoys it too. I don't know. This tangent has little to do with this story. I'm just thinking about how I don't understand stories at all, and most of what little I've read professing to 'explain' stories has struck me as either uselessly vague or offputtingly irreconcilable to actual stories and completely unscientific.

I guess I think semiotics is okay.


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